UCI Health and Lifepoint Rehabilitation break ground on new inpatient rehabilitation hospital

The UCI Health executive leadership team, led by President and CEO
Chad T. Lefteris, breaks ground on the UCI Health Rehabilitation
Hospital. The 52-bed facility is scheduled to open in 2025. Credit:
Karen Tapia.

Orange, Calif. and Brentwood, Tenn. – UCI Health and Lifepoint Rehabilitation, a business unit of Lifepoint Health, broke ground yesterday on a new inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Irvine, Calif. The UCI Health Rehabilitation Hospital is a joint venture partnership between UCI Health and Lifepoint Rehabilitation that was announced in 2022.

The 68,000-square-foot, two-story facility will function as a stand-alone hospital with 52 beds. It will feature a specialized acquired brain injury unit, a dialysis suite, an imaging suite for onsite radiology, multidisciplinary therapy gymnasiums outfitted with the latest therapeutic technologies, outdoor courtyards and other spaces designed to help patients return to activities of daily living. The facility will be structurally designed in all units for the needs of patients receiving acute inpatient rehabilitation care for stroke, traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries, amputation and other injuries and disorders.

“This marks a significant milestone in our journey to enhance rehabilitation services in Orange County,” said UCI Health President and CEO Chad T. Lefteris. “Our collaboration with Lifepoint Rehabilitation reflects our steadfast dedication to help patients achieve their maximum recovery potential. The inception of the UCI Health Rehabilitation Hospital is a pivotal step in bringing this vision to fruition, reinforcing our position as a forefront provider of advanced rehabilitation services and elevating the quality of life for the communities we serve.”

The facility will serve patients treated at UCI Medical Center in Orange, as well as patients from UCI Health – Irvine, the new 1.2 million-square-foot medical campus, and the greater Orange County healthcare market The new campus will feature the Joe C. Wen & Family Center for Advanced Care, scheduled to open this spring, and the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and Ambulatory Care building, set to open this summer. Upon opening, UCI Health Rehabilitation Hospital will more than triple the inpatient rehabilitation capacity currently available across the health system.

"The new Rehabilitation Hospital represents a significant advancement in the continuum of care at UCI Health, offering exceptional rehabilitative care to the region. This includes patients from the Level I trauma center, inpatient hospitals across Orange County and Irvine and those needing support from the comprehensive cancer center, regional burn center, and comprehensive stroke center that UCI Health provides,” said Dr. Jay Han, UCI Health chairman of physical medicine and rehabilitation and medical director of the rehabilitation unit.

“This new facility reinforces the commitment of UCI Health to deliver best-in-class rehabilitation care and to become a premier rehabilitation hospital in the region and beyond."

Lifepoint Rehabilitation’s experience in providing evidence-driven frameworks for rehabilitation care in dedicated inpatient, acute care settings lends additional operational support to the joint venture partnership. UCI Health Rehabilitation Hospital is anticipated to create more than 200 new jobs for the region and will serve more than 1,200 patients annually.

“This was an exciting day for Lifepoint Rehabilitation and for patients here in Orange County and throughout the region as we broke ground on UCI Health Rehabilitation Hospital,” said Russ Bailey, president, Lifepoint Rehabilitation. “This partnership builds on the UCI Health reputation for advanced, high-level specialty care and Lifepoint Rehabilitation’s expertise in providing leading-edge rehabilitation care. We share a commitment to excellence and a vision for community investment and growth, and I look forward to seeing all that we will accomplish together on behalf of our patients and the communities we serve.”

Upon completion, UCI Health Rehabilitation Hospital will be jointly operated by UCI Health and Lifepoint Rehabilitation. It will join Lifepoint Rehabilitation’s growing network of more than 40 inpatient rehabilitation facilities across the country. The hospital is expected to open in 2025.

Media contact: Sophia Papa

UCI Health

661-369-6968

spapa@hs.uci.edu

Media contact: Aileen Bennett

Lifepoint Rehabilitation

615-920-7668

aileen.bennett@lpnt.net

About UCI Health

UCI Health is the clinical enterprise of the University of California, Irvine, and the only academic health system in Orange County. Patients can access UCI Health at primary and specialty care offices across Orange County and at its main campus, UCI Medical Center in Orange, Calif. The 459-bed, acute care hospital, listed among America’s Best Hospitals by U.S. News & World Report for 23 consecutive years, provides tertiary and quaternary care, ambulatory and specialty medical clinics, behavioral health and rehabilitation services. UCI Medical Center is home to Orange County’s only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, high-risk perinatal/neonatal program and American College of Surgeons-verified Level I adult and Level II pediatric trauma center, gold level 1 geriatric emergency department and regional burn center. UCI Health serves a region of nearly 4 million people in Orange County, western Riverside County and southeast Los Angeles County. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

About Lifepoint Rehabilitation

With more than 40 freestanding inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs), Lifepoint Rehabilitation is a partner of choice for many major hospital systems in the creation of joint venture operations that are industry-leading in clinical and financial outcomes. Through its IRFs and more than 250 hospital-based rehabilitation units, medical/surgical and outpatient therapy settings, Lifepoint Rehabilitation brings proven rehabilitation management and services expertise to help our patients recover and return home quickly from a number of conditions, including strokes, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, orthopedic injuries, neurological conditions, amputations and trauma. Lifepoint Rehabilitation is a business unit of Brentwood, Tennessee-based Lifepoint Health.