Elwood rehab hospital starts at high standard

Alex Simone, St. Joseph News-Press, Mo.
·2 min read

May 18—A new rehab hospital has opened in the region after more than a year of anticipation, and it already is exceeding expectations in its first couple of months.

ClearSky Rehabilitation Hospital in Elwood, Kansas, is one of six facilities nationwide within the hospital network.

But the Elwood-St. Joseph location has stood apart for its rate of directly sending people home after care, said Nate Miller, ClearSky's senior vice president of new hospitals.

"A big indicator for us is patients going home after they leave here. And this hospital, our goal is 80%, and this hospital is actually doing 90%," Miller said. "On our overall clinical outcomes our very first month, this hospital exceeded all of our other hospitals.

"And so our goal for this facility — because they perform so well — is to be in the top 10% of, not only our company but of the nation. And that is our goal, and we feel like we can achieve that here."

Another aspect that has set the new location apart is its hospitality, Miller said. He has spent four years with ClearSky but describes the notable impact Elwood has on him.

"This is the most welcoming community that we've ever been in," he said. "The folks here have been fantastic and just welcomed us with open arms, and we're so proud of that."

Having those positive interactions is an important aspect because community support is one of the first things ClearSky looks at when deciding whether to move into a new area, Miller said.

"What we look for is first is that the community has a need. And this community, people were driving an hour to get rehab, so we identified that as a need," he said. "Then we meet with a local individuals to make sure that they're going to support us and understand what we're trying to do, and they're not thinking about developing one of their own."

ClearSky is working to open another 10 rehab hospitals. There are no current plans to build another rehab hospital in Kansas or Missouri, but Miller has left the door open, saying there already are sights set on continuing to expand the network.

Alex Simone can be reached at alex.simone@newspressnow.com. Follow him on Twitter at @NPNOWSimone.