CHARLESTON, W.Va. — CAMC/Vandalia Health is expanding its footprint in the Capital City with a new $50 million rehabilitation hospital.
The organization is collaborating with Michigan-based Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation for the project, a partnership launched in January last year. Local leaders joined Vandalia Health and Mary Free Bed officials on Wednesday to officially break ground on the project at the corner of Washington Street and Morris Street in Charleston. The site is located just across the street from the CAMC General Hospital.
The 93,000 square foot facility will be dedicated towards providing comprehensive rehabilitation care. CAMC/Vandalia Health General Hospital Chief Administrative Officer Heidi Edwards said while they currently offer such services throughout the Vandalia system, this new facility will meet a growing demand.
“You never know when you’re going to need inpatient rehab,” Edwards said. “It could be a car wreck; it could be many of the different scenarios that happen in life that you don’t expect. Our current inpatient rehab has served many patients over the last 40 years. The issue is it only has 25 beds. We have a greater need in this community.”
Edwards said it’s all about centralizing the care. She said this facility will do just that.
“To be able to provide both inpatient and outpatient services in one facility and keep our patients here in this community is going to be huge,” Edwards said. “With state-of-the-art technology, innovative care, and outstanding clinicians, it’s just the right time to do the right thing for our community.”
Mary Free Bed began in Grand Rapids, Michigan 138 years ago, founded by a group of women. Current Chief Operating Officer Bruce Brasser said the founding women launched a fundraiser calling upon families to donate 10 cents if they had a family member named Mary. From there, those women created a guild that serves as the community representatives for the modern-day Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital. Brasser expressed optimism for the expansion into the Capital City.
‘We are going to be expanding access to rehabilitation care for patients here in Charleston and surrounding communities,” Brasser explained. “Mary Free Bed is a rehabilitation hospital only. We’re passionate about caring for patients that have these needs, and we are very pleased to be partnering with Vandalia to make that happen.”
Brasser said he’s spent a quarter century working with Mary Free Bed and had a unique first experience with their services.
“My background is a nurse, and my first experience with Mary Free Bed and a rehabilitation hospital was as a parent whose child needed care,” Brasser said. “25 years ago this week, I joined Mary Free Bed and have been able to see us grow tremendously and serve more patients.”
Edwards pointed out that sometimes, West Virginians may have to go out of state to receive care. This is a dedicated effort to keep those people in West Virginia with more healthcare offerings.
“When you’re talking about spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, those types of injuries, and being able to have the comprehensive care, a lot of people, we don’t have the level of access that’s needed,” Edwards said. “So, a lot of people do go out of state for that care. But that’s a very a huge stress for families. It’s an out-of-pocket expense to stay somewhere. So, being able to be right here at home in the community, with people that they know and people that they trust, that makes a difference.”
Also at the groundbreaking celebration, two-time stroke survivor Marshall Murray gave a speech. He serves as the director for the local Martin Luther King Jr. Male Chorus. He received care within the CAMC/Vandalia system for his second stroke and said it was a night-and-day difference from the first stroke care.
“I’ve got friendships with a lot of the staff and stuff now that I didn’t have with the first one,” Murray said. “I couldn’t tell you one name of the first one. So, I’m tickled to death. I stop by every now and then to try to see patients and tell them, ‘Hey, I was you, and I’m up.’ If you do what they tell you, you’ll make it.”
Construction on the facility is set to be complete in 2029.