The PeaceHealth hospital system’s plan to open a 50-room rehabilitation hospital in Springfield, Oregon, has prompted the state to update its rules for evaluating such proposals.
The facility would provide rehab services for adults learning to live with a loss of function or new disability, including traumatic brain injury. The plan comes amid a shortage of rehabilitation capacity in Oregon, due to lack of staff and beds. Many hospitals complain that they are having to house patients who are ready for discharge to rehabilitation centers or nursing homes, but who, due to the facility shortage, can’t be moved out.
PeaceHealth hasn’t yet filed a formal proposal for the $76 million facility but it has notified the state it intends to do so, according to The Lund Report. In response, the Oregon Health Authority earlier this month implemented temporary rules with new requirements for information applicants must submit in order to secure permission under the state’s Certificate of Need program. Read more.
