Select Medical announced a joint venture agreement with Banner Health to combine operations of more than 38 physical therapy centers in Arizona and four acute inpatient rehabilitation hospitals located in Phoenix.  Banner Health will be the majority owner; Select Medical will serve as managing partner.

The deal includes the construction of three new acute inpatient rehabilitation hospitals beginning in 2018 with anticipated completion by 2019.  Future plans involve consolidation of the existing hospitals into the new state-of-the-art facilities designed to better serve the needs of patients requiring care resulting from stroke, spinal cord injury, brain injury, amputation, neurological disorders, among other conditions.    

“This agreement brings together two top-ranked health care providers to serve Arizona,” said Peter S. Fine, president and CEO of Phoenix-based Banner Health.  “When Banner Health went searching for a partner for these specialty, post-acute care services, it quickly became apparent that Select Medical was the best fit. They share Banner’s commitment to clinical quality and our obsession with making health care easier so life can be better for our patients and their families.”

Under the agreement, the combined outpatient rehabilitation services will include 26 Select Physical Therapy centers currently operating in the region as well as 12 Banner Health Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation centers.  The four inpatient rehabilitation hospitals to be contributed to the joint venture are currently located at Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix, Banner Boswell Medical Center in Sun City, Ariz., Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center in Sun City West, Ariz. and Banner Baywood Medical Center in Mesa, Ariz.

“We are honored to partner with such an esteemed system as Banner Health to collaborate and innovate in a way that will raise the bar of excellence in rehabilitative patient care for Arizonans,” said Select Medical President and CEO David S. Chernow.