Bangor's planning board has approved the development of a new 80-bed physical rehabilitation hospital to be operated by Alabama-base Encompass Health.
Planning board member Kenneth Huhn said the project is sorely needed after closure of an acute inpatient rehab unit two years ago.
"Since Eastern Maine Medical Center closed their rehab unit, rehab hospital beds have been nonexistent in this area," he said. "You have to go to Portland to find them. They're putting them in skilled nursing beds, but not rehab hospital beds."
Encompass Health also operates New England Rehabilitation Hospital of Portland jointly with Maine Medical Center.
The for-profit company is the largest operator of rehabilitation hospitals in the US and Puerto Rico, with more than 166 facilities. The Bangor hospital is expected to cost more than $61 million to build and will open in 2027.
