Company buys land for rehab hospital

A New Mexico company hopes to break ground this spring on a $15 million rehabilitation hospital in Post Falls.

Last week, Ernst Health Inc. purchased a 6-acre parcel of land east of Wal-Mart. The Albuquerque-based chain is working with city officials on permits and zoning issues and expects to break ground within 60 days, said Darby Brockette, chief executive officer.

“Normally, from the time we break ground, we’re able to admit patients within 12 months,” Brockette said Tuesday.

The 40-bed hospital will target people recovering from major surgery or trauma. They’re past the point of being at Kootenai Medical Center but not quite well enough to go home, Brockette said.

“It’s a hospital dedicated to the care of people following strokes, trauma, spinal cord injuries, head injuries, heart surgery … ,” he said.

Spokane has rehab services, but North Idaho doesn’t have that type of in-patient, intermediate care, Brockette said.

“This will allow people to stay closer to home, and makes it easier for family and friends to visit,” he said. “We think that’s part of the healing process.”

Brockette expects to work closely with Kootenai Medical Center, which supports the new hospital.

“We don’t see them being in competition with us,” Joe Morris, KMC’s chief executive officer, said in an interview earlier this month.

Therapists and nurses will account for about 60 percent of the hospital’s staff. The remaining workers will be support staff.

Brockette expects the 48,000-square-foot facility to employ about 150 people.

Ernst Health, founded a year ago, is building a chain of rehab hospitals across the Rocky Mountain states and the Southwest. It targets mid-sized communities.

“That’s where people are relocating for retirement,” Brockette said. “When we looked at demographics, the Coeur d’Alene area just jumped out at us. It has a high proportion of people 65 and older. They are the highest users of our services.”

Ernst Health has three hospitals starting up in Texas, New Mexico and Colorado. It will announce two new locations soon, Brockette said.

The company was started last year by a group of rehab professionals. Private equity financing is providing the seed money for the venture, Brockette said.