ClearSky Health breaks ground for medical rehabilitation hospital
November 18, 2022
ClearSky Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Baytown broke ground for its newest facility Wednesday on Blue Heron Parkway. ClearSky selected Baytown as the site of a new 30-bed medical rehabilitation hospital. Baytown was selected as the new site for the healthcare provider that owns and operates inpatient rehabilitation hospitals in Texas, Louisiana, and New Mexico, with plans to open new facilities in Arizona, Florida, Kansas, Ohio, Wisconsin, and additional Texas locations soon. This will be ClearSky Health’s sixth hospital in Texas. It will provide specialized rehabilitative services to patients living with disabling injuries or illnesses such as strokes, brain injuries, hip fractures, spinal injuries, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and other medically complex conditions such as COVID-19. The hospital will treat about 650 patients annually.
“We chose the Baytown location with the support of the community and medical leadership, including the Baytown West Chambers County Economic Development Foundation,” said Darby Brockette, CEO of ClearSky Health. “We plan to fulfill an unmet need for specialized rehabilitative care in the area.”
He said ClearSky Baytown will set itself apart from other rehabilitation programs through its highly trained team, specialized equipment and dedicated facility. “Our staff will go above and beyond normal service expectations,” he says. “They will even support our patients after they’re discharged from the hospital to ensure they get the resources they need for their continued healing."
Talley Riggins Construction Group Senior Project Manager Dave Hudson said his group worked with the City of Baytown to design two entrances/exits off Blue Heron for better access on the busy divided boulevard. The 44,000-square-foot facility will be in a wooded area. Robert George representing the architectural firm of Dekker Perich Sabatini, said, “We designed this building for maximum natural light and access to the outdoor spaces. We did not design for any LEED ratings but used basic LEED elements. Recent studies show that natural light reduces the need for pain medication and shortens the length of the patient’s stay.”
“ClearSky Health will be a welcome addition to the area’s existing healthcare cluster,” says B.J. Simon, president/CEO, Baytown West Chambers County Economic Development Foundation. “Our residents will benefit from ClearSky Health’s proximity and provision of high-quality rehabilitative care without experiencing the hardships typically and routinely encountered when traveling for treatment.”Construction is expected to take 13 months to complete from a projected Dec. 1 start date. The facility will include outdoor garden and rehabilitation exercise areas. Brockett said that the healthcare teams at some facilities have a code for patient discharge. When staff hears the code on the public announcements they all gather at the front for a patient send-off.
“We plan to help patients achieve optimum independence so they can get home quickly and back to activities that they enjoy doing in their daily lives,” he said.