Focusing on rehab

A Pennsylvania company has chosen Boardman for its first rehabilitation hospital.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
BOARDMAN -- A South Avenue nursing home and assisted living center is adding a 29-bed hospital that will focus on rehabilitation.
Greenbriar Hospital for Special Services will open in a couple of weeks in a new $1.5 million building at the Greenbriar complex at 8064 South Ave.
Laura Gerst, hospital administrator, said services will be similar to what is offered at Forum Health Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital in Howland.
There also are two rehabilitation hospitals in Youngstown -- Select Specialty Hospital and Specialty Hospital Mahoning Valley.
Gerst said the location of the Greenbriar's hospital, along with the company's reputation, should make it a success. The new hospital will be closer to home for residents of Youngstown's southern suburbs, she said.
"Not that any other hospital isn't good, but this is a great location," she said.
Preparations: Greenbriar officials have been working to have the new hospital listed in insurance company provider networks and to have doctors admit patients.
The hospital has a medical director, Dr. James Demidovich, who also is nursing home medical director. He will see patients in the hospital or they can be visited by their regular doctors. The hospital has 20 employees.
Gerst called the Greenbriar hospital a stepping stone that will help people make the transition from the hospital to their homes or a nursing home. It will accept patients who are 16 and older.
Gerst said about 75 percent of the patients will be in need of rehabilitation services, including occupational therapy, speech therapy and physical therapy. They will be able to receive three hours of therapy a day.
Besides weights and whirlpools, the therapy rooms also have an oven and refrigerator to help people who have been injured retrain themselves for everyday activities.
Patients will include those who have had strokes, brain injuries, spinal cord damage and joint replacements. Stays will range from about one to six weeks.
Background: The need for rehabilitation hospitals has grown in recent years as insurance companies reduce the length of stay they will cover at traditional hospitals.
This is the first hospital for Greenbriar's parent company, Trans Health Care of Camp Hill, Pa., although the company has plans for five more in Ohio, Gerst said.
The parent company operates 38 nursing homes in Ohio and a physical therapy group in Pennsylvania.
Gerst, a registered nurse, came to Greenbriar from Specialty Hospital Mahoning Valley, where she was quality director.
She said she was attracted by the chance to create an organization.
"You don't get the opportunity to build something from the ground up very often," she said.
Also included in the complex are the Greenbriar Healthcare Center, a 120-bed nursing home which opened 10 years ago, and The Commons, a 50-bed assisted living center, which opened six years ago.
shilling@vindy.com