Partnership Will Bring Advanced Inpatient Rehabilitation Care Closer to Home for Upper Cumberland Patients
By: Heather Thomas
(UCBJ) – Cookeville Regional Medical Center (CRMC) and Encompass Health (EH) recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for their partnership’s new rehabilitation hospital in Cookeville, bringing together healthcare leaders, elected officials and community partners.
The 50-Bed facility is set to open in early 2028.
The ceremony marked the start of construction on the new facility, which CRMC and EH say will expand access to high-quality inpatient rehabilitation services and provide patients across the Upper Cumberland with more advanced care options closer to home.
Kim Parrish, administrator of CRMC’s current inpatient rehabilitation unit, spoke first, expressing excitement and the impact the hospital will have on patients and families throughout the community.
Other speakers included:
- CRMC CEO Buffy Key
- Encompass Health MidAtlantic Regional President Abe Sims
- Tennessee Rep. Ryan Williams
- Putnam County Mayor Randy Porter
- Cookeville Mayor Chad Gilbert
- Dr. Scott Copeland, chairman of the CRMC board of trustees
Speakers discussed the importance of expanding access to specialized rehab services in the Upper Cumberland and the opportunity to provide patients with intensive recovery care closer to home.
Groundbreaking marks major expansion
For Parrish and the rehabilitation team at CRMC, the groundbreaking is more than the start of construction; it is the next step in a service expansion designed to help patients rebuild strength, regain independence and return to their daily lives following serious illness or injury.
The hospital will provide:
- Intensive rehabilitation for patients recovering from strokes
- Brain injurie
- Spinal cord injuries
- Amputations
- Complex orthopedic conditions
- Other serious illnesses or injuries
Patients will receive at least three hours of intensive therapy five days each week, frequent physician visits and 24-hour nursing care.
Rendering
Venture adds specialized services, private patient rooms and new healthcare capacity
The hospital It has been designed around the needs of rehabilitation patients and will include:
- 50 private patient rooms
- A spacious therapy gym featuring advanced rehabilitation technologies
- An activities-of-daily-living suite
- A dialysis suite
- A therapy courtyard
- A dining room
- An in-house pharmacy
- Dayroom areas
The project represents more than additional hospital capacity for the region. It expands access to both localized specialized care and increased Upper Cumberland healthcare infrastructure.
Facility will expand access to intensive rehabilitation care
Healthcare facilities like this strengthen the region’s broader economy by supporting jobs across nursing, therapy, pharmacy and administration. As Cookeville grows into a regional hub for healthcare, education, employment and commerce, advanced inpatient rehabilitation services add another layer to the community’s quality-of-life infrastructure.
For patients, the project’s impact is much simpler: It allows recovery closer to home, surrounded by family, familiar physicians and the support network they know and trust.
UCBJ photo.
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