Mary Free Bed partnering on $40.7M hospital

Mary Free Bed partnering on $40.7M hospital

The Covenant HealthCare Main Campus in Saginaw. Courtesy Mary Free Bed

Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital and a Michigan health system are planning to build a new hospital.

Grand Rapids-based Mary Free Bed and partner Covenant HealthCare plan to build a 48-bed hospital in Saginaw on the Covenant main campus.

In November 2017, the two organizations signed a partnership agreement creating a 50-50 joint venture that brought advanced rehabilitation care to Saginaw and the Great Lakes Bay Region.

“One of our goals when we began the partnership was to study the need for a separate rehabilitation hospital,” said Kent Riddle, CEO, Mary Free Bed. “Our analysis shows it’s time to move ahead with construction of a new building that will be designed specifically for rehabilitation services.”

Covenant is financing the building, and the joint venture will lease it from Covenant, a Mary Free Bed spokesperson said.

Mary Free Bed said the new facility will allow it to serve more patients, offer private rooms, be closer to physicians and clinical staff at the acute care hospital and work more efficiently. The current rehabilitation facilities are located on a separate campus.

In addition to the inpatient rooms, the facility will include an outpatient therapy space, a physician outpatient clinic, space for 12 additional beds and technology such as ceiling-mounted ambulation systems. Patients will also have the opportunity to participate in national stroke rehabilitation research.

Square footage and additional details have not yet been finalized. Planning and design will continue in March, with a groundbreaking expected in late 2019 or early 2020.

When fully operational, the new rehabilitation hospital is estimated to bring 25-30 jobs to Saginaw.