CoxHealth breaks ground on rehab hospital in Ozark

CoxHealth broke ground this week on a new rehabilitation hospital announced earlier this year.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held Wednesday for the 63-bed facility in partnership with Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania-based Select Medical Holdings Corp. (NYSE: SEM), said Cary Nabors, manager of public relations for CoxHealth. The two organizations announced a joint venture in January with plans to bring an inpatient rehab facility to an unspecified location in southwest Missouri, according to past reporting.

Nabors said the site is located on West Garton Road across from Baptist Homes of Ozark. The process of assigning an address to the building is still in the works, said Nabors, declining to disclose the ownership of the property.

"CoxHealth Rehabilitation Hospital will be part of Select Medical’s national network of more than 30 medical rehabilitation hospitals," Nabors said, pointing to a network that includes Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation, Cleveland Clinic Rehabilitation Hospital and Baylor Scott & White Institute for Rehabilitation.

KCI Construction Co. is serving as general contractor for the roughly 63,000-square-foot, one-story building on eight acres of land, said Nabors, declining to disclose the estimated development cost. HDR is the project architect.

Nabors said CoxHealth Rehabilitation Hospital is a needed project.

"There is an increasing need for inpatient rehabilitative care for those recovering from stroke, traumatic brain injury and other debilitative medical conditions and illness in Ozark and throughout southwest Missouri," Nabors said. "The new rehabilitation hospital will help patients recover, resume an independent lifestyle and return to the community."

Health system officials previously pointed to a tentative opening date in fourth-quarter 2025.