When a new rehabilitation hospital opens in Moline, it'll create about 100 new jobs. UnityPoint Health - Trinity and Encompass Health Corp. will spend $34 million to build the 40-bed, in-patient hospital at 7th Street and 52nd Avenue.
Katie Pearson, UnityPoint Health - Trinity's Chief Strategy Officer, says Encompass operates 130 rehab hospitals. And the joint project is a 50-50 ownership deal.
Currently, about 100 employees staff the rehab unit on the Rock Island campus. They're expected to be transferred to the new Quad Cities Rehabilitation Institute. Pearson says the stand-alone hospital will also need to hire around 100 more employees.
The state certificate of need says the number of licensed beds at the Rock Island hospital will drop by 22. So, adding 40 beds at the new rehab institute will result in an 18-bed net increase in licensed beds in the Illinois Quad Cities.
Pearson says Encompass is spearheading the design and construction process with plans to break ground this spring and open in the middle of next year.
