Hospital to unveil new units at open house Friday

Boulder City Hospital will unveil its new Geriatric Behavioral Health and Acute Rehabilitation units during an open house at 10 a.m. Friday.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., is expected to attend the celebration and make a few comments.

Open house attendees will have the opportunity to tour the facility and meet members of the management and clinical teams for the two 10-bed units.

Refreshments will be served.

“The geropsych unit is designed for senior citizens who might be suffering from major depression related to aging or loss, while the acute rehab is geared to the aging population but with normal levels of independent living. They might be recovering from a broken hip or a joint replacement,” said Tom Maher, Boulder City Hospital’s CEO.

He said the hospital has always offered some level of rehabilitative services, but they were more in line with skilled nursing and the new program is less intense. Patients must be able to receive a minimum of three hours of rehabilitative therapy a day.

While the acute rehab unit is designed primarily with older patients in mind, Maher said it can serve younger people if they meet the necessary requirements.

The units, created with the aging populations of Boulder City and southern Henderson in mind, should help the hospital operate with a profit, Maher said.

They were built with a $13.87 million direct loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and $2.44 million loan guarantee by the USDA through the Rural Communities Assistance Corp.

Maher said the 40-year loan is part of “our obligation to create and manage a thriving hospital.”

“It’s less of a hospital project and more of an economic development project,” he said.

With the two units, the hospital will add about 90 new jobs, while saving about 200 existing jobs.

“The hospital is in a precarious state,” Maher said. “We have lost money year after year since 2000. The funding helps keep the hospital alive and open … by providing a means to raise money to keep the hospital open and jobs available.”

He said the major problems that caused the hospital to lose money were addressed through getting the loans for this project.

Along with the new construction, the hospital partnered with Horizon Health, a leader in behavioral health and acute rehabilitation program management, to strengthen the programs that foster its Age in Place business model.

Construction on the new units began in July. Up next for the hospital is phase two of its expansion, which will include the front lobby, an outpatient rehab gym, administrative offices and an expanded emergency room, including two new bays, Maher said.

The hospital is at 901 Adams Blvd.