Cookeville Regional Medical Center will borrow funds up to $13 million to construct a new inpatient rehabilitation hospital.
CRMC received authorization from the Cookeville City Council to borrow the funds on Thursday. Mayor Laurin Wheaton said the expansion is needed.
“We are keeping people in the community, which is so important as a health care provider, I think, I’ve seen what can happen when you send patients out and they don’t have family to take care of them, and so the fact that we are gonna keep them here, keep their services here, keep them with Cookeville Regional who already offers great service and care,” Wheaton said. “I think this is something that we have needed for a long time.”
CEO Buffy Key said the 50 private bed inpatient rehabilitation facility will cost an estimated $60 million. Key said the $13 million will help the project move forward.
“We hope it’s a lot less than that, but with the current pricing and everything else, it will help us build the whole other wing of this service,” Key said.
Key said CRMC is partnering with Encompass Health to build and staff the facility. Encompass Health Senior Vice President for Business Development Melanie Lewis said the facility will bring more high-paying jobs to Cookeville.
“We are doing a two-phase project, as you may know, so the initial tower will be 40 beds,” Lewis said. “It’s going to be approximately 100-115 employees. That’s total FTEs, (Full-Time Employees) largely those are clinical positions, nurses, therapists, there are some high-level administrative, nurse managers, and that sort of thing, but as we expand into 50 beds and as we continue to grow, it will probably be in the neighborhood of 150 employees.”
Key said Encompass Health would have 70 percent ownership while CRMC would have 30 percent. Key said she expects to begin constructing the facility in early 2026. Key said construction would take 14-18 months to complete.
