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JOHNSTOWN - A new long-term, acute-care hospital will break ground in late December or early January on the campus of the Northern Colorado Rehabilitation Hospital in Johnstown.
The Advanced Care Hospital of Northern Colorado will be the second facility to be located at the 2534 development at the southeast corner of Interstate 25 and U.S. Highway 34.
The new facility, known as an LTCH in the industry, will be the first of its kind in Northern Colorado, according to Dennis Shelby, CEO of Northern Colorado Rehabilitation Hospital, which opened in August 2005.
"There are no LTCHs in Northern Colorado," he said. "The closest is in Denver, and right now anybody from Longmont to Cheyenne is sending patients to the Denver area, which is an inconvenience to families."
Shelby said Brooks Stewart, who has been hired to be CEO for Advanced Care Hospital, will begin her job in December. Shelby said federal requirements stipulate there be a CEO for each of the hospitals on the campus.
Advanced Care Hospital will have 20 beds and offer care for patients too sick to go home but strong enough to leave a primary care hospital, freeing up beds in those facilities.
Architect for the new hospital is Dekker/Parich/Sabatini of Albuquerque, N.M. and the builder is M.J. Harris Inc. of Birmingham, Ala.
Both Advanced Care Hospital and Northern Colorado Rehabilitation Hospital are owned by Ernest Health Inc., a 3-year-old privately-held Albuquerque-based company that now owns and operates rehab facilities in Brownsville, Texas; Prescott Valley, Ariz. and Las Cruces, N.M. The company has said it plans to open 36 rehab hospitals throughout the western U.S. in the next five years.
Advanced Care Hospital of Northern Colorado is expected to open in summer 2007, Shelby said.
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