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Riverside Breaks Ground on New Rehabilitation Hospital in York County

April 17, 2018
Riverside Breaks Ground on New Rehabilitation Hospital in York County

The $25 million, 50-bed, 52,000-square-foot hospital expected to open summer of 2019.

Riverside Breaks Ground on New Rehabilitation Hospital in York County

York County, Va. – Riverside Health System, in partnership with Select Medical, broke ground Tuesday, April 17 on the new Riverside Rehabilitation Hospital in York County, celebrating the start of major construction on the 50-bed, 52,000-square-foot hospital that will relocate from Newport News.

Located on Josephs Drive in York County off of Route 17, the new, $25 million Riverside Rehabilitation Hospital is expected to open to the community in the summer of 2019.

“By moving here to York County we’re going to be more centrally located for patients and families in York County, Newport News, Hampton, Gloucester, Smithfield, Isle of Wight and Williamsburg/James City County,” said Bill Downey, President and CEO, Riverside Health System. “With this facility we will have a major facility – nursing home or hospital – in every major city and county of the Virginia Peninsula, Middle Peninsula, Eastern Shore and Northern Neck.”

Executives and civic leaders celebrate Riverside Rehabilitation Hospital groundbreaking in York County

The hospital, building on its legacy from its current Newport News location, will remain the only freestanding rehabilitation hospital in the entire Hampton Roads region, which it has served since 1986.

More than 200 Riverside team members will be employed on the new campus, serving an expected 800 patients or more per year.

The addition of the Riverside Rehabilitation Hospital marks the fourth health system facility to open in York County. Riverside currently operates three primary care practices in York County, including MD Express Yorktown, Patriot Primary Care and the recently opened Kiln Creek Primary Care, as well as Home Health & Hospice services.

Signage indicates location of Riverside Rehabilitation Hospital in York County

“What we really celebrate today is what this facility will mean to the future of York County and our surrounding neighbors,” said Jeffrey Wassmer, York County Board of Supervisors. “It brings a facility that will bring hope back into people’s lives. It brings a facility where challenges will be overcome. It brings a facility where the despair that sometimes life brings will go away. To the 200 hands that will eventually staff this facility, the caring and compassionate hands that will change lives and make our community better, that’s what we celebrate today.”

The Riverside Rehabilitation Hospital specializes in working with patients who have suffered from a brain injury, stroke, spinal cord injury, neurological disorder, amputation, Orthopedicspedic condition and cancer.

“Last year, we entered into this wondeRiverside Foundationul partnership with Riverside Health with the promise to work together to provide innovative health care to Virginia’s coastal communities,” said David Chernow, President and CEO, Select Medical. “Under this partnership, Select Medical and Riverside Health will offer the most advanced rehabilitative treatment. By next year, right here where we stand today, those who need acute rehabilitative care in this community will benefit from our collective best practices, our advanced treatments and evidence-based outcomes.”

Hard hats and safety vests are prepared for Riverside Rehabilitation Hospital groundbreaking

Brasfield & Gorrie serves as the general contractor of the project, with additional support from companies like the York County-based C.A. Barrs Contractor, Inc. who is peRiverside Foundationorming the site work on the property.

“Riverside Health System belongs to the communities it serves,” said Alan Witt, Chairman of the Board, Riverside Health System. “The system is led by people in this community and we are responsive to this community. This state-of-the-art facility is just one more way we are meeting our commitments to serve the community. It’s just another example of the Riverside care difference where we put our patients and customers at the heart of everything we do.”

About Select Medical

Select Medical operates more than 20 in-patient rehabilitation hospitals across the U.S., serving patients suffering from brain injury, stroke, spinal cord injury, neurological disorders, amputation, Orthopedicspedic conditions, general rehabilitation and cancer rehabilitation. Their Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation has been nationally ranked in U.S. News & World Report for more than 20 years and is currently ranked as the #3 rehabilitation hospital in the nation. Their Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation has been recognized as a high peRiverside Foundationorming hospital by U.S. News & World Report for the past several years and is one of only 16 centers in the country to be designated as a Model System for treatment and research of spinal cord injuries.