Ohio State will be opening a new rehabilitation facility on campus. Credit: Katherine Simon | Lantern Reporter
The Wexner Medical Center of Ohio State is partnering with Kindred Rehabilitation Services to build a new facility to replace Dodd Rehabilitation Hospital.
President of KRS Russell Bailey said the hospital will specialize in treatment and research for patients with brain and spinal cord injuries and stroke survivors. The new hospital is expected to open in 2025 but construction likely will not begin for another year, Ohio State Neurological Institute executive director Amanda Lucas said.
“There is an unmet demand in the community,” Lucas said. “Both from Franklin County but also the continuous counties that we believe we could attract to the new facility with the talent and expertise we have at Dodd today and in collaboration with our partners tomorrow.”
KRS is the business unit of the healthcare network LifePoint Health that partners with hospitals to provide rehabilitation services, according to a press release from the Wexner Medical Center.
The new facility will have 80 beds, making it 30 percent larger than Dodd, Lucas said.
Lucas said the hospital will have specialized equipment and gyms to treat patients based on individual needs. She said treatment can include physical therapy, speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, recreational therapy and music therapy.
“It’s an inpatient rehab hospital,” Lucas said. “It has specialized care pathways for those who have rehabilitative needs that require at least three hours a day of specialized therapy in addition to their medical care.”
According to the release, the facility will be on Taylor Avenue near Ohio State East Hospital.
KRS and Ohio State will co-own and operate the new hospital, with Ohio State overseeing the hospital and KRS managing day-to-day operations, according to the release.
Bailey said the history and expertise of Dodd, along with the national rehabilitative scope of KRS, will make this hospital stand out to others across the U.S. According to the release, the two organizations plan on adding 75 new jobs in clinical and support roles for the new building.
“Both Ohio State and Dodd have been fantastic through the years over and over again and stand out head and shoulders above the rest,” Bailey said. “We’re super excited to be able to partner and add on to the size and provide a greater access for patients in and around Ohio and beyond.”
Lucas said research will be integrated into the facility’s services, with a dedicated research space in the building plan.
“We have model systems grants for both spinal cord and traumatic brain injury that will continue into the new model, and we have dedicated space for that in the build,” Lucas said.
Optimization studies for buildings are being done as the campus continues to expand, Lucas said. She said a committee for optimized planning will decide the best use of Dodd for when the new hospital takes over.
