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Expanding to meet the EV needs of the Fox Valley
March 9, 2026
GREEN BAY – Thanks to a new partnership between Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS) and Lifepoint Rehabilitation, St. Vincent Hospital is set to double its rehabilitation patient capacity this summer.
The expansion comes with the anticipated completion of a new inpatient rehabilitation hospital currently under construction on South Taylor Drive.
According to Lifepoint Rehabilitation President Russ Bailey, the organization is a division of Lifepoint Health, a Tennessee-based diversified healthcare company that operates approximately 60 acute care hospitals and 49 rehabilitation hospitals nationwide, employing about 50,000 people across the country.
“We [also] manage a number of rehabilitation units and therapy services across the United States for various partners, probably to the tune of 250-or-so different units,” he said. “In addition to that, we have 24 behavioral health hospitals [under Lifepoint Behavioral Health].”
Prior to partnering with HSHS, Bailey said Lifepoint had already identified a growing need for rehabilitation services in Green Bay, purchased the property on South Taylor Drive and began construction on a new inpatient rehabilitation hospital.
After learning of the project, HSHS Wisconsin Market President Bob Erickson said St. Vincent Hospital pursued a partnership with Lifepoint Rehabilitation for several reasons – one being the current state of its internal 20-bed rehab unit.
“The care there is second to none [because] we have a long history of delivering acute rehab services…, [but] the facility is a bit outdated,” he said. “So, we would have had to make some capital improvements to that facility.”
Seeing potential for mission alignment, Erickson said HSHS and Lifepoint formed a new company – “a joint venture partnership between HSHS St. Vincent Hospital and Lifepoint” – to manage and operate the forthcoming HSHS | Rehabilitation Hospital.
“As two healthcare systems [with] shared values and alignment, instead of duplicating services…, we’re going to contribute our current rehab unit in the new venture and work with Lifepoint to grow,” he said.
Investing together
As Lifepoint began construction on its new hospital just mere blocks away, Erickson said the opportunity to partner quickly became apparent – especially because St. Vincent’s existing rehab department was at capacity and in need of some improvements.
“We’d have to invest anyway,” he said. “This [partnership] gives us a chance to do that in a brand-new, state-of-the-art hospital.”
In addition to the facility itself, Erickson said HSHS’ partnership with Lifepoint will afford patients access to specialized rehab services and St. Vincent with more space for general and acute care.
“[Lifepoint has] the experts, they have the protocols and they’re bringing something to our community that now, in partnership with our hospital system, I think, is going to elevate rehab care to a whole new level,” he said. “Then, we can take our current rehab unit and repurpose those beds for more medical beds that we need as we continue to grow.”
Erickson said “the other component” of their partnership is HSHS and Lifepoint’s shared analysis of Green Bay’s growing role in regional health care.
“We continue to see tremendous growth in Green Bay as we become more and more a destination for care,” he said. “Frankly, we also need more acute care beds for your typical med-surg population.”
With acute care needs also on the rise in the region, Bailey said having a local rehabilitation hospital will benefit patients who would otherwise have to travel for care.
“[It] provides an environment conducive for rehabilitation and a destination in the local area and surrounding area for folks coming into Green Bay needing services instead of [them] having to go… outside of the local community,” he said.
With construction well underway, Bailey said Lifepoint and HSHS are aiming to welcome the new hospital’s first patient this summer.
“August is kind of the timeframe we have right now being able to take a first patient,” he said. “Construction is a unique thing. We’re at the mercy of how long it takes to get stuff done.”
A three-layer partnership
Bailey said Lifepoint is excited to build upon St. Vincent’s existing rehab infrastructure in a space specifically curated to support community-based traumatic injury care.
“Being able to expand on the great work they’ve done there and grow upon it, I think, is a win for us, a win for HSHS and most importantly, a win for the community,” he said.
From day one, Bailey said HSHS | Rehabilitation Hospital has been designed “specifically for rehabilitative services” – and, once complete, will also house the region’s only traumatic brain injury (TBI) unit.
“Sometimes we’ll refer to it as an acquired brain injury, because there are multiple different modalities that could cause an injury,” he said. “Whether it’s a straight traumatic injury, a surgical intervention or even a brain bleed…, it reacts in the same way.”
Bailey said a specialized TBI unit is intentionally built in particular ways that aid in cranial healing.
“A lot of times there are difficulties in the amount of stimulus individuals have, need or can tolerate during recovery,” he said. “So, this environment is designed a little differently than the rest of the hospital. It typically has lower lighting, muted tones – maybe not as much decoration and artwork that will distract individuals.”
However, the “brick and mortar” of a building, Bailey said, can only do so much, as the real value comes from the staff and providers operating the facility and caring for patients.
Once complete, Erickson and Bailey said HSHS | Rehabilitation Hospital will be staffed by care providers and other non-medical employees from both HSHS and Lifepoint – as well as Prevea Health.
Erickson said Prevea Health will supply the medical providers for the facility – including hospitalists, physiatrists and other specialists – while HSHS will deliver additional hospital-based services patients may require, such as dialysis, laboratory work and radiology.
“So, it’s a closely integrated delivery model with multiple partners,” he said.
Lifepoint’s responsibility, Bailey said, lies in the hospital’s operational management.
“This is a joint venture,” he said. “Both Lifepoint and HSHS are part equity owners in that LLC, but Lifepoint is the management company, so we will provide the nurses, the therapists and some of the other day-to-day operations.”
Bailey said the HSHS | Rehabilitation Hospital will provide a comprehensive range of services, drawing on the experience of Lifepoint Rehabilitation and HSHS in treating conditions such as stroke, amputation, Parkinson’s disease, joint fractures and severe burn injuries.
However, he said the hospital’s specific service lines will ultimately be shaped by the needs of the Green Bay market and the community it serves.
“We need to make sure they can recover and get back into the community,” he said. “[We treat] a wide range of patient populations – primarily those who need real rehabilitative services for their delivery of care over a shorter duration of time.”
Extending missions
Erickson said Lifepoint has been “tremendously flexible and accommodating” to HSHS’ mission in allowing its “Catholic identity” to adorn this new hospital.
“That’s what partnership is all about,” he said. “We have shared values, a shared culture and we respect each other. Just like we respect them coming in to manage it with their expertise, they really respected our culture and our desire to make [the new hospital] an extension of our mission.”
Bailey said Lifepoint is looking forward to extending its mission to Greater Green Bay and establishing not only a new hospital, but a destination for rehabilitative care.
“[We’re] personally excited to be in the community and be involved,” he said. “Bob and the entire HSHS team [are] really fantastic leaders in the local market, and we are 100% happy to draft behind them and bring the rehab expertise into the community that we plan to.”
For progress updates on the HSHS | Rehabilitation Hospital, visit Lifepoint’s and HSHS’ social media pages.
