First Look: New rehab hospitals set to open Cape Coral and Naples

Encompass Health has announced the opening of two new rehabilitation hospitals, and one of them is heading right to Cape Coral.

Marcy Smith has been in and out of the hospital a lot and has the scars to prove it. “I underwent a total knee replacement of my left knee last October,” Smith said. “Two months later I had a total knee replacement of my right knee.”

In addition to that, she’s also suffered a staph infection, and later, she got into a car accident.

For now, Smith is in physical therapy at Physical Therapy Now. But she thinks a new rehab hospital in her area would make life much easier. “There are a lot of people that are not able to go home after their surgery or injuries and do you need an inpatient therapy to go to for the extra care,” Smith said.

Encompass Health believes there are thousands of people in Cape Coral and Naples just like Smith. “We do believe there is an underserved market in an opportunity to provide that level of care,” said David Klementz, Chief Strategy Officer for Encompass Health.

Klementz’s job is to find cities that lack what his company provides, which is in-patient rehab for people recovering from strokes, brain injuries and other orthopedic injuries.

“Getting them back as functionally mobile as we can do they can continue their lives in a productive manner— that’s important,” Klementz said. “Getting everybody back to the community and keeping them in the community.”

These new hospitals in Cape Coral and Naples are still in the design stage. But Smith, who happens to be a former nurse, says they can’t build these hospitals fast enough. “Cape Coral is growing by leaps and bounds and we don’t have any here so any facility is going to be wonderful,” she said.

Encompass Health says they bought more land than needed for its rehab hospital so that as Cape Coral grows, the hospital can grow as well.