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A chief executive has been named for a new rehab hospital that is slated to open next month.
Shivani Bass was named chief executive of The Rehabilitation Institute of St. Louis-West County, a joint venture between BJC HealthCare and Birmingham, Alabama-based Encompass Health Corp. (NYSE: EHC). The 40-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital, under construction at 998 Woods Mill Road in Town and Country, was announced in July 2022 and is expected to open to patients next month, officials said.
She will also continue in her current role as CEO of The Rehabilitation Institute of St. Louis at St. Peters, which also is part of the BJC-Encompass joint venture. Bass previously served as director of therapy operations at The Rehabilitation Institute of St. Louis, located at 4455 Duncan Ave. in Midtown.
A licensed physical therapist, Bass holds a bachelor’s degree in exercise science from the University of Delaware and a doctor of physical therapy degree from Washington University
The new West County hospital will provide 24-hour nursing care along with physical, occupational and speech therapies to patients recovering from illnesses and injuries including stroke, brain injury, spinal cord injury, amputation and complex orthopedic conditions.
BJC previously said that it planned to relocate its existing 20-bed rehab unit at Missouri Baptist Medical Center to the new facility in Town and Country when it opens.
“As a licensed physical therapist with more than 15 years of clinical and leadership experience, Shivani is the perfect fit for the role of CEO of our new hospital in Missouri,” Troy DeDecker, president of Encompass Health’s Central region, said in a statement. “She has demonstrated a commitment to the Encompass Health promise of delivering high-quality care that truly makes a difference in the lives of our patients. I am confident that this hospital will flourish under her leadership as they continue to serve the community of St. Louis.”
In addition to the soon-to-open West County location, the BJC joint venture with Encompass also includes The Rehabilitation Institute of St. Louis in Midtown and in St. Peters, and The Rehabilitation Institute of Southern Illinois in Shiloh.
Encompass Health, the nation's largest owner and operator of rehabilitation hospitals, includes 160 hospitals in 37 states and Puerto Rico.
BJC HealthCare is the region's largest employer with more than 33,700 employees and an annual budget of $7 billion. Following BJC HealthCare's merger early this year with Saint Luke's Health System in Kansas City, St. Louis-based BJC Health System now operates as BJC HealthCare in its Eastern Region, serving the St. Louis region and southern Illinois, and Saint Luke's Health System in its Western Region, covering Kansas City, northwest Missouri and eastern Kansas.