The Westfield Advisory Plan Commission heard a proposal for a rehabilitation hospital on a 19-acre plot near the corner of 196th Street and East Street in Westfield during its Dec. 2 meeting.
The building would be across from the Community Health Network hospital, which is under construction on the west side of East Street. The property, which was annexed by Westfield in October, is owned by Community Health Network.
The request at the meeting was to change zoning from an agriculture/single-family rural district to the LPH/Community planned unit development. The applicant is Lifepoint Corporate Services General Partnership, an affiliate of Lifepoint Health, a Tennessee-based company that operates 24 behavioral hospitals nationwide.
The hospital would have 120 beds and be approximately 75,000 square feet. Construction is projected for September 2026 with a 16-month completion schedule. It would be on the north end of the 19-acre plot.
Attorney Addison Bradford with the law firm Hall & Render represented Lifepoint in its presentation to the APC. He cited a community health assessment that found that behavioral health was a “priority need within the community.”
“This development is intended to specifically meet that need within the county,” Bradford said.
Bradford said there would be a ground lease on the site for a developer to build the hospital. IT would then be leased back in a joint venture operated by Life Point and Community Health Network pursuant to a long-term lease.
Bradford said the hospital will not be a permanent residential facility. The average length of stay would be seven to 10 days.
“So, it’s not a place that’s going to take a bunch of involuntary commitments for folks that live there for years and years. It’s not that kind of facility,” Bradford said.
Bradford noted that another building, likely to be a medical office building that supported the hospital across the street is planned for the south portion of the parcel.
The proposal was part of a public hearing. There was no public comment on the proposal, APC President Mike Neal seemed supportive.
“I think it is certainly a wonderful partnership,” Neal said. “Behavioral and mental health has been ignored for too long and we’re just catching up to the myriad of needs. I think this is a great addition to the community.”
The APC unanimously waived a workshop session for the project without a recommendation to the city council. The plan will be presented again before the APC at a future meeting to be determined.
