PELHAM – On Monday, May 8, HealthSouth broke ground on its newest 34-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital located on Oak Mountain Commons Lane.

The $17 million hospital will provide inpatient rehabilitation services and higher medical management for dialysis patients, patients recovering from stroke and other neurological disorders, hip fractures, brain injury, spinal cord injury, amputation and other complex orthopedic conditions.

The 44,230-square-foot, freestanding inpatient rehabilitation hospital will include 34 private patient rooms, a spacious therapy gym, courtyard and dining room and dayroom areas. The hospital will bring 120-150 jobs to Shelby County and is expected to open to patients in March 2018.

More than 100 guests attended the groundbreaking ceremony and heard remarks from speakers Linda Wilder, president of HealthSouth’s southeast region; Alex Dudchock, county manager of Shelby County; Jon Parker, chairman of the Shelby County Commission; and Mark Tarr, president and chief executive officer of HealthSouth Corporation.

“We were very fortunate when we started this project that we had great support from the Shelby County contingent, the municipalities in the area as well as our state legislators,” Wilder said. “This is a hospital level of care we are bringing to Shelby County. There is no other hospital like it in the county, and we’re proud to be here.”

The coming of the rehabilitation center marks and end to an eight-year process to receive clearance from the state to build the hospital. Dudchock said the process was delayed by the state’s regulatory process.

HealthSouth first proposed the hospital in 2009, but the Statewide Health Coordinating Council rejected the idea in 2010 after area nursing homes and medical centers opposed it.

It wasn’t until July 2016 that HealthSouth got final approval to construct the hospital.

This hospital will be HealthSouth’s seventh location in Alabama joining hospitals in Birmingham, Dothan, Gadsden, Huntsville, Montgomery and Phenix City.