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Acute-Care Hospital Under Construction

Posted on: Friday, 28 October 2005, 15:01 CDT

By Bob Moos, The Dallas Morning News

Oct. 28--Preferred Continuum Care of Birmingham, Ala., has begun construction of a 60-bed long-term acute-care hospital near the Dallas medical complex along Harry Hines Boulevard.

The privately held company said Thursday that it is building a four-story, 55,000-square-foot building at 1950 Record Crossing Road and expects to open the $15 million hospital in July.

Long-term acute-care hospitals are designed for patients with chronic conditions after treatment in traditional acute-care hospitals. The average stay lasts about a month.

Continuum Specialty Hospital eventually will employ 110 health care professionals and support personnel, said hospital chief executive and administrator Richard Allison.

The company, formed last year by HealthSouth founder Eugene Smith, operates a long-term acute-care hospital in New Orleans and is building others in Anchorage, Alaska, and Mesa, Ariz.

Laura Moore, vice president of corporate development, said Preferred Continuum Care was drawn to the Dallas-Fort Worth market because "the patient population is still underserved."

The company may open more hospitals here, she said.

Preferred Continuum Care enters a market dominated by Kindred Healthcare Inc. of Louisville, Ky., which operates seven long-term acute-care hospitals in Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington and Mansfield.

John Gavras, president of the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council, said that there's a niche for such specialty hospitals but that the region probably can support only a limited number.

"The key to their success will be in establishing good relations with other hospitals and specialty physicians, because that's where they'll get referrals," he said. "That's not always easy to do."

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HLSH, KIND,

Source: The Dallas Morning News

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