QuickTake:

Construction crews, city leaders and PeaceHealth employees gather to celebrate the new facility, which will open next year. It will expand RiverBend’s rehabilitation unit to 42 beds and offer the region’s first traumatic brain injury unit.

Construction workers and PeaceHealth employees shared a barbecue lunch Friday, Aug. 15, to celebrate the building of a new inpatient rehabilitation facility in Springfield.

The crowd applauded as a crane lifted the last beam onto the frame of the 67,000-square-foot facility. Everyone in attendance, which included city staff and elected officials, was invited to sign the beam.

“This new hospital, opening in 2026, is not just a building. It’s a promise to our community that they will have access to award-winning care close to home,” said Ashley McDonald, a physical therapist and program director of the inpatient rehabilitation unit at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend.

Jennifer Diane, an occupational therapist at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend, signs a ceremonial beam at the celebration of a new rehab facility in Springfield, Aug. 15, 2025. “It’s more rare than we think that a brand new health care facility gets built,” Diane said. “We’re excited to have more resources and space than what we have right now.” Credit: Isaac Wasserman / Lookout Eugene-Springfield / Catchlight / RFA

The stand-alone building, which will have 42 inpatient beds, is being built on International Way next to the PeaceHealth Riverbend Annex, which is just down the road from the hospital. 

The facility will replace RiverBend’s current 27-bed rehab unit. The hospital started the project in 2020. Construction began in March 2025 and is expected to wrap up next year. Pence Contractors serves as general contractor. 

“We started as a program with limited access, modest outcomes and a lot of uncertainty,” McDonald said. “Then came COVID. Instead of pulling back, we expanded our beds to meet the needs of this community when they needed us most.”

Union iron workers Dion Zajic (left) and Jeremie Foster attach a ceremonial beam to a cable to be lifted by a crane in celebration of a new rehab facility in Springfield, Aug. 15, 2025. The 67,000 square foot facility will add 42 beds geared specifically towards rehabilitation. Credit: Isaac Wasserman / Lookout Eugene-Springfield / Catchlight / RFA

Lifepoint Rehabilitation will manage the facility, which will provide physical, occupational and speech pathology services to people recovering from conditions such as stroke, neurological disease, and brain and spinal cord injury. 

Dr. Jim McGovern, chief hospital executive for PeaceHealth in Oregon, said the new facility will offer a traumatic brain injury program that does not currently exist in the Pacific Northwest.

“We are sending patients to Colorado for that kind of care,” he said. “This will allow people to stay local.”

Alicia Beymer, chief administrative officer at RiverBend, said the new facility is three times the size of the current rehab unit at RiverBend. It will include a larger gym, a mock apartment for patients, a car to practice entering and exiting, and an outdoor therapy area.

Construction workers, doctors, politicians and others have a barbecue lunch in celebration of the new rehab facility. Credit: Isaac Wasserman / Lookout Eugene-Springfield / Catchlight / RFA

“When you think about that as a family or a patient, having those spaces and those specific areas to gain independence and strength to go home, it really, truly will make a big difference in their lives,” Beymer said. 

The facility is part of a growing health care hub in Springfield. Lane County has purchased land on International Way for a stabilization center to serve people in mental health and addiction crises. The Lane Stabilization Center is part of a coordinated project with PeaceHealth, which is planning a psychiatric hospital at the same location.