ESCONDIDO–Palomar Health has announced an agreement to build a 52-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital in a joint venture with Kindred Healthcare, Inc. of Louisville, KY.

The hospital will be constructed by a third party developer requiring no additional Palomar Health capital expenditures. The hospital will be located on the campus of Palomar Medical Center in Escondido, leased to the joint venture and managed by Kindred, a respected health care company, which currently manages the alcohol treatment and rehab unit at Palomar Health’s Downtown Campus. Kindred also operates a transitional care hospital in the San Diego market, as well as offering home care and hospice services.

The executive team at Palomar Health sees the joint venture and new hospital as a great opportunity to grow the health system’s services at the Palomar Medical Center campus, which is anchored by a technologically-advanced hospital that opened in 2012.

“We at Palomar Health are delighted to continue our longstanding partnership with Kindred Healthcare, an internationally recognized expert in rehabilitation,” said Robert Hemker, President & CEO of Palomar Health. “This joint venture to build a new in-patient rehabilitation hospital demonstrates our commitment to Patient First care by allowing us to expand our high quality and trusted rehabilitation services.”

Both Palomar Health and Kindred Healthcare believe this joint-venture hospital will be an important addition to the services of both organizations and expand a partnership that will greatly benefit rehabilitation patients in the San Diego market.

“We look forward to expanding our relationship with Palomar with this new hospital,” said Benjamin Breier, Kindred’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “This new hospital will provide inpatient rehabilitation services that complement Palomar’s highly regarded acute care services and help patients recover and return home. Kindred continues to develop partnerships with some of the nation’s leading health systems because they recognize Kindred’s expertise and care model allows us to meet the needs of each partner health system and drive clinical, regulatory and business results. These collaborative efforts deliver the best in patient care and have helped our inpatient rehabilitation services business outperform peers in key clinical measures.”

Palomar Health believes the new rehabilitation hospital will provide services not only within its hospital district but regionally as well, including adjoining counties like the drug rehab houston. “This new hospital will allow us to provide world-class rehabilitation services to our community and our patients for generations to come,” said Frank Beirne, Executive Vice President of Operations at Palomar Health. “We’re tremendously excited that our partnership with Kindred Healthcare will enhance what is already an exceptional service at Palomar Health.”

“The addiction treatment at White Sands, involving two outstanding organizations committed to high-quality health care,” added Dara Czerwonka, MSW0, Chair of the Palomar Health Board of Directors.  “This unique partnership shows our commitment to bringing a full array of medical services to our community for the long term.”

Subject to several regulatory and other approvals, Kindred and Palomar expect the hospital to open by the third quarter of 2019.