Chelsea Hospital Announces $10 Million Capital Investment, Expansion of Adult Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit 

Rehabilitation Center to Become Regional Leader

CHELSEA, Mich. (Oct. 12, 2023) — Chelsea Hospital announced the approval of a $10 million capital investment to expand the hospital’s adult inpatient rehabilitation unit. Under the plan, Chelsea Hospital’s joint venture partner, University of Michigan Health, will consolidate its adult acute rehabilitation service into one location inside Chelsea Hospital, staffed by U-M Health providers. The new rehab unit, which will become a destination for inpatient rehabilitation across the region, is expected to open in the summer of 2024. 

“While still very early, there is a lot of excitement building right now about how this investment and our growing collaboration with U-M Health will help elevate rehabilitation care in our community,” said Ben Miles, president of Chelsea Hospital. “Plans for the new rehabilitation unit will allow us to offer a more unified, less fragmented approach to providing compassionate, high-quality care. Our U-M Health colleagues share similar values, which continues to provide our care teams inside the hospital with a very enriching, positive, and collaborative work environment.” 

Today’s announcement builds on the success of a program begun in 2020 when Chelsea Hospital expanded its inpatient rehabilitation unit from 6 to 24 beds, in collaboration with U-M Health. Since then, the experience of U-M providers and staff has been universally positive. The expanded inpatient rehabilitation unit, which includes an additional 16 beds, will be located inside the hospital’s Courtyard West unit. Using the approved investment of $10 million, the unit will be remodeled before opening to the public. The existing 24 rehabilitation beds will continue to be located inside the hospital’s Atrium West unit.

“We are excited to be a part of this expansion allowing U-M Health physicians to continue working alongside Trinity Health physicians to provide the best care possible for patients who need rehabilitation services in the community,” said U-M Health Chair of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Edward Hurvitz, M.D. “We look forward to building on our collaboration with Chelsea Hospital and bringing our faculty and staff’s expertise together to serve patients recovering from stroke, brain injury, major trauma or other complicated medical conditions with rehabilitation needs.”

The inpatient rehabilitation program will continue to treat a patient population similar to those currently treated inside Chelsea Hospital, including those with diagnoses of stroke, brain injury, neurological disease or illness and issues involving orthopedics or trauma. The spinal cord injury and cancer programs will also be moved from U-M Health to Chelsea Hospital. This decision concentrates the inpatient team and resources into a single center, which enhances the hospital’s ability to provide a world-class experience to every patient. The Rehabilitation Medical Director at Chelsea Hospital is Sally Young, M.D.