By JESSA PEASE / Staff Writer

PELHAM— After plans were finalized in June, HealthSouth Corporation announced its intention to develop a 44,230-square-foot, 34-room physical rehabilitation center in Pelham in a July 11 press release.

The hospital will provide physical rehabilitation to patients who have experienced stroke, trauma, brain and orthopedic injuries, as well as other major illnesses or injuries.

The facility will be located behind the Shell Station off Shelby County 52, which is across from Interstate 65 at the Tank Farm.

“Currently, Shelby County residents have limited access to an inpatient rehabilitation hospital, which requires patients and their families to travel to Jefferson County for treatment,” said Linda Wilder, president of HealthSouth’s southeast region.

“This new hospital will ensure that residents have appropriate and reasonable access to the latest rehabilitative treatment and technology in a hospital setting.”

The development of the hospital is expected to result in an investment of about $25 million in the community and, once fully operational, the facility should generate about 85 new full-time jobs.

In a June City Council meeting, Pelham Mayor Gary Waters said many related businesses, such as doctor’s offices, have already contacted the city about being located near the new HealthSouth facility.

Site studies, engineering and pre-construction meetings have already been conducted with Pelham city leaders, and Waters told Councilmembers those meetings were successful.

“I sent you the update about the pre-construction meeting,” Waters said. “It was very positive and well attended. We didn’t identify anything that couldn’t be overcome. It’s just a good thing for everyone.”

HealthSouth representative Jonas Booker also attended the June City Council meeting, and said patients will be admitted through neighboring hospitals with an average length-of-stay being 14 days.

The approval process for the Shelby County hospital took HealthSouth more than six years. A recent reissuance of two certificates of need through the State Health Planning and Development Agency allowed HealthSouth to build the new facility.

Booker said HealthSouth received the preliminary schematic design for the HealthSouth physical rehabilitation hospital in June, and design schedule should last until January 2017. He said they are hoping to issue a building permit in mid-January 2017.

As of June, the contractor had not been selected, but construction should last about 12 months after building permit and state health department approval, which would be between 30-60 days after the January 2017 date.

The HealthSouth release said the new hospital is expected to open in the first half of 2018.

“We are very pleased that we can now move forward to provide these much needed services to the Shelby County community,” Wilder said.