LIBERTY TWP, Ohio - Efforts from Youngstown and Liberty to revitalize Belmont Avenue are underway. Today, officials held a groundbreaking event for a new medical facility planning to set up shop along the corridor.

It's a joint partnership between Mercy Health and Lifepoint Rehabilitation. A 66,000-square-foot, two-story inpatient rehabilitation hospital will soon make a home here near Trumbull and Belmont Avenues.

This 60-bed Mercy Health Rehabilitation Hospital will be meant for patients receiving care for stroke, traumatic brain injury, and amputations, just to name a few.

"Patients have some kind of functional decline meaning they can't walk as well as they'd like to," explained Dave Stark, VP of Operations with IRF, Lifepoint Rehabilitation. "They can't take care of themselves, dress themselves, tie their shoes, brush their teeth. Things you might think are simple tasks, our patients are having difficulty doing. That's what we're trying to work on, getting them better in their mobility."

Both groups tell 21 News they decide what type of services to offer by looking at the data here at St. Elizabeth's in Youngstown.

"So their discharges, what kind of patients they're seeing in their hospital," Stark explained. "We also look at the demographics and the age of the folks that live in the area. What's the population growth, what's going on with the community itself."

"There are many, many times we have more patients that want to get into our rehab hospital space but we don't have the beds," explained Kathy Harley, President of Mercy Health St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital. "So, this is going to allow us, as Doctor Luellen shared, to nearly triple our bed size."

This comes as Belmont renovations are expected to begin soon in Liberty to enhance safety in the area for pedestrians and revamp the road's aesthetics. \

"This building, with its size and its landscaping, is going to look beautiful on Belmont," shared Devon Stanley, Liberty Township Trustee. "It's also going to attract other businesses to come in and do the same."

"This is so important to building a better Belmont," Harley said. "A lot of work is being done by multiple individuals to try and push this along and this is one more step in the process to get there."

The $45 million hospital is being paid for through a Real Estate Investment Trust. Sanders Trust is financing the building and the company's then rent the facility through the group. Construction is expected to be completed and ready to welcome patients by the end of 2024. 

There are also future plans for a behavioral health facility down the road.