Rehabilitation Hospital to Open in Century City in 2015

By City News Service

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, UCLA Health System and long-term care provider Select Medical announced today a partnership to open a 138-bed acute-care rehabilitation hospital in Century City in 2015.

The aim "is to develop a world-class regional rehabilitation center providing highly specialized care, advanced treatment and leading-edge technologies to treat individuals with spinal cord injuries, brain injuries, strokes, amputations, neurological disorders, and musculoskeletal and orthopedic conditions," a statement said.

... "The new hospital will serve the growing needs of the community for inpatient rehabilitation and is also expected to serve as a center for treating complex rehabilitation cases from around the nation," it said.

The facility will be located at the site of the now-shuttered Century City Hospital on Olympic Boulevard.  

Currently, both Cedars and UCLA provide acute inpatient rehabilitation services but are usually full because of limited capacity for such care -- 28 beds at Cedars-Sinai and 11 at UCLA.

"When the new hospital opens, Cedars-Sinai and UCLA Health System would transition their acute inpatient rehabilitation services to the (new) facility," the statement said.

The new facility will be operated by Select Medical, a provider of long- term acute care services with hospital and outpatient locations in 44 states, including at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in New Jersey.

Select Medical previously has partnered with a number of academic medical centers, including Baylor Health Care System and Penn State Hershey, to manage and operate rehabilitation hospitals similar in concept to the one envisioned in Century City.

"As one of the most highly respected academic medical centers and health systems in the world, UCLA is delighted to join forces and share expertise with Cedars-Sinai and Select Medical, a preeminent provider of post- acute care in the United States," said Dr. David T. Feinberg, president of UCLA Health System, CEO of the UCLA Hospital System and associate vice chancellor for health sciences at UCLA. "The addition of this rehabilitation facility will be of extraordinary benefit to the people of Los Angeles."  

Earlier this year, a feasibility study found that seismic retrofitting would enable the former Century City Hospital to meet seismic safety standards and licensure requirements to be operated as a rehabilitation hospital, the statement said. The building's current owner has begun infrastructure and modernization work to bring the building up to standards.

The preparation work will be completed in 2015 and allow occupancy until 2030, according to the statement.