LifeCare Returns To Its Roots In Critical Care With New Ownership

DALLAS, Jan. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- LifeCare returns to its roots in critical care with the purchase of four specialty hospitals and reimagining of its brand. North Texas investors purchased four hospitals across North Texas and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from LifeCare Health Partners in a 363 bankruptcy sale to form LifeCare 2.0, LLC, which will go by the name LifeCare with headquarters in Addison, Texas.

"We saved over 800 jobs in these communities and hired an additional 20 people from the corporate office to round out the LifeCare 2.0 Business Services team in Addison," said Breann Falsarella, Director of HR.

Leadership chose to keep the name LifeCare because of their connections to the original founding of LifeCare in 1992 and its historically exceptional clinical model. LifeCare is unique in its all-female CEO staff leading its North Texas hospitals. CEOs Joy Patel (Dallas), Ashley Walchok (Fort Worth) and Kathy Wallace (Plano) are also all trained in critical care.

"Our early intervention and early mobilization program for critically ill patients is designed to produce better outcomes in a shorter period of time than traditional healthcare settings and reduces hospital re-admissions in the process," Walchock said. Born in Cleveland, and raised in Sarasota, Florida, Walchock was inspired as a child to become a nurse. She spent a majority of her career in critical care, including roles in cardiovascular ICU, transplant, trauma and rapid response. Prior to being named the CEO of the Fort Worth hospital in September, Walchock had roles as Director of Case Management and Chief Operating Officer.

The new company has a long-term outlook on a sector that has been battered by regulatory and reimbursement headwinds for several years. "Our patients require specialized vent weaning protocols and intensive services from a transdisciplinary team. The level of service required to provide exceptional outcomes and prevent re-admissions for these critically ill patients cannot be achieved in other healthcare environments. I am proud to be a part of an organization that embraces a patient-centered model," Wallace said. Kathy Wallace is a RN with 35 years of healthcare experience including 18 years at LifeCare where she has served in a variety of executive leadership roles.

"We had a young patient referred to us that had been on a ventilator for 19 days with Traumatic Brain Injury after suffering a fall. We weaned the patient in five days and discharged that patient to a lower level of care within 15 days," Patel said. Joy Patel has 25 years of healthcare experience of which half was spent at the bedside as a licensed respiratory therapist giving her first-hand knowledge of the importance of ventilator weaning and critical care.

Dr. Steven Davidoff with Southwest Pulmonary Associates said this about the importance of these types of specialty hospitals, "Facilities like LifeCare are an important link in the healthcare system allowing for critical patients to transition between acute care and rehabilitation. Some patients require specialized care for wound management, ventilator management, and respiratory support that cannot be obtained in the acute care setting. These types of hospitals provide multimodality therapy with a full complement of speech, occupational, and physical therapy tailored to each patient. Dr. Steven Davidoff is board certified in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.

The bankruptcy sale finalized Sept. 29, 2019, and LifeCare 2.0, LLC was the only bidder. For more information, visit lifecare-health.com.

About LifeCare
Headquartered in Addison, Texas, LifeCare is a specialty hospital operator focused on redefining critical care throughout its network. The company currently operates three critical care hospitals in North Texas (Dallas, Fort Worth and Plano) and a behavioral health hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For more information, visit lifecare-health.com.

SOURCE LifeCare 2.0, LLC