A gathering was held Oct. 30 to toast the progress of California Rehabilitation Institute, a long awaited medical endeavor at the Century City Medical Plaza in the place of the former doctor’s hospital.
As a three-way partnership between Cedars-Sinai, UCLA Health System, and Select Medical, the 138-bed acute inpatient rehabilitation hospital is expected to open its doors in early 2016.
After the Century City Doctor’s Hospital closed in 2008, the Century City Medical Plaza has been seeking a means to build another hospital.
“This type of institute is very much needed here in L.A.,” said Jeff Buttikofer, CFO of RealTech, the property owner of Century City Medical Plaza.
The joint venture between Select Medical, Cedars-Sinai, and UCLA Health wound up to be the ideal resolution.
“We will feature an open medical staff model led by a core group of physician leaders from both UCLA Health System and Cedars-Sinai,” David S. Chernow, president of Select Medical, has stated. “At the same time, Select Medical has begun to share lessons learned and best practices from our experience running top-tier medical rehabilitation hospitals. All of it should add up to a new destination for patients for years to come.”
The hospital’s mission is to provide advanced treatment to those with spinal cord injuries, brain injuries, stroke, and other acute conditions.
The institute will serve not only the needs of the local community, but also treat complex rehabilitation cases from all over the country, with the overall vision of the three involved entities aiming to “develop a world-class regional rehabilitation center providing highly specialized care, advanced treatment, and leading-edge technologies.”
Select Medical will be in charge of operation of the facility as a provider of long-term acute care and rehabilitation. With hospital and outpatient locations in 44 states, Select Medical has also partnered with a number of academic medical centers to manage and operate similar rehabilitation hospitals.
The California Rehabilitation Institute will offer a first-of-its-kind scope of service in the region: although Cedars-Sinai and UCLA Health System both have acute inpatient rehabilitation services at their respective facilities, capacity is very limited with 28 beds at Cedars-Sinai and 11 at UCLA Health.
The opening of the California Rehabilitation Institute will also see a transition of services to the new hospital.
“There is a tremendous, tremendous need that this hospital is going to meet,” said Edwin Bodensiek, VP of Communications and Branding at Select Medical. “There have been patients going as far as Denver to receive such treatment.”
Not only will the hospital provide patient services, but the institute also “expects to employ up to 300 when the hospital is fully operational.”
Bodensiek explained that the typical patient – though not exclusive to a particular description – will be in need of neuro-rehabilitation after having suffered traumatic brain injury, major stroke, or spinal cord injury.
“There are patients who are clearly going to survive, but need help with rehabilitation,” Bodensiek said. “We’re in charge of making sure that there is a correct setting for such recovery. This hospital will be very much modeled on the best practices that are out there in rehabilitation.”
Many of the experts that are staffed at Select Medical’s partnered rehab hospitals, such as the Kessler Institute, the number two rehab hospital in the nation, are set to assist in this current endeavor.
“A lot of the program directors are already flying out to Los Angeles to consult with colleagues,” Bodensiek said. “We hope to replicate what we’ve done at Kessler right here in L.A. It’s going to be very exciting for our patients.”
Buttikofer also weighed in on his thoughts about the incoming institute.
“This will be the very first acute rehab facility in the state of California,” Buttikofer explained. “We’re looking forward to something that’s much needed on the Westside and the rest of L.A.”
The California Rehabilitation Institute will be located at 2070 Century Park East in Century City.
