A 42-bed, 55,000-square-foot inpatient rehabilitation hospital should soon be under construction in Waterbury following the sale Monday of a roughly 4.5-acre building site to a Florida-based developer. Catalyst Healthcare Real Estate, a Florida-based national development and investment firm, bought a building site at the intersection of Reidville Drive and Harpers Ferry Road in Waterbury’s East […]
A 42-bed, 55,000-square-foot inpatient rehabilitation hospital should soon be under construction in Waterbury following the sale Monday of a roughly 4.5-acre building site to a Florida-based developer.
Catalyst Healthcare Real Estate, a Florida-based national development and investment firm, bought a building site at the intersection of Reidville Drive and Harpers Ferry Road in Waterbury’s East End, city officials confirmed Monday.
State officials have already signed off on an application by Pennsylvania-based PAM Health to operate a rehab hospital at this site. Catalyst will build the property for lease to PAM Health, according to a city official.
“We are happy to welcome another new business, Catalyst and PAM Health, to Waterbury,” Waterbury Mayor Paul Pernerewski said Monday. “The new acute care facility will enhance medical care for the people of Waterbury and the region. Strategically located just off I-84, not only will it be a brand-new facility offering 42 beds, but it will also provide 150 full-time and 50 part-time, good paying jobs. We look forward to their opening.”
The site was sold by members of the Napp family.
Ralph Napp, of Watertown, stopped by the site just after the sale Monday. He said the 4.5-acre property had been in his family for more than 60 years, housing a concrete foundation business started by his father.
“It’s a good thing,” Napp said. “It will bring jobs.”
In December 2021, PAM Health and Waterbury Hospital filed a joint application with the state Office of Health Strategy seeking regulatory approval for the facility. The goal, according to the application, is to provide rehabilitative services to patients leaving acute care hospitals in western Connecticut. At the time, the project was estimated to cost $33 million.
The plan received state approval on Aug. 9, 2023, but Waterbury Hospital backed out this past January. Weeks later, PAM Health sought permission to move ahead independently. The Office of Health Strategy signed off on the modified agreement in July.
PAM Health said it operates a network of more than 100 long-term acute care hospitals, physical medicine and rehabilitation hospitals, as well as wound clinics, outpatient physical therapy sites and behavioral health hospitals across 17 states.
According to the original application, the Waterbury facility will provide specialized, “state-of-the-art” inpatient rehabilitation care to people recovering from a wide array of injuries and illnesses, such as stroke, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, amputations, orthopedic surgery, cardiac episodes and pulmonary conditions.
All rooms will be private. The facility will also have two therapy gyms, an outdoor therapy area, daily living suite, activities room and various therapy rooms.
“This is the good news we have been anticipating since our first meeting with PAM Health and Catalyst in 2021,” Waterbury Economic Development Director Joseph McGrath said. “This is not only gratifying from an economic development perspective, but it will also provide the residents of greater Waterbury with access to acute care rehabilitative services.”
