The Cookeville Regional Board of Trustees established a timeline for the construction of a new inpatient rehabilitation hospital during its Wednesday meeting.
Vice President of Development for Encompass Health Matt Bailey said demolition of the existing outpatient unit is scheduled to begin next week. Bailey said the construction phase is expected to last 11 months with the goal of seeing the first patient by late 2027.
“I just wanted to start with how excited we are, Encompass is, to be coming to town, to help support CRMC in growing this really important avenue of care for the community, and increasing access at home for patients that need this service,” Bailey said.
The plan calls for a new 40-bed hospital. Bailey said the second phase of the project involves tearing down the current inpatient unit to expand parking and create an outdoor therapy courtyard. The facility includes a future expansion area for 10 additional beds to reach a total capacity of 50.
“I’ve had a lot of folks ask why are we starting the joint venture early in February of 2027 and it’s really because of our, it’s dovetailing with our Epic plans to switch from our current EMR to Epic,” Outgoing Board Chairman Danny Rader said. “This project will not be switching to Epic.”
Rader said the facility will utilize the Cerner system instead of Epic to avoid multiple software changes for staff. The joint venture between Cookeville Regional Medical Center and Encompass Health will officially begin operations in February 2027 to align with these strategic technology dates.
In other business, the board appointed Dr. Scott Copeland as its new chairman. Copeland said the board approved a slate of officers including Vice Chairman Alma Anderson and Secretary Joe Albright to serve on the executive committee.
Copeland said the leadership transition follows the conclusion of the term for Rader.
“I just want to say that we as a board, and these comments were made at the groundbreaking as well, but I can’t think of, since I’ve been on the board, a project that has been met with such with such great energy and desire by the board to do something,” Copeland said. “We really feel strongly that the community needs this, and it will benefit everyone in the community.”