Tahoe Pacific Hospital a hospitalwithin- a-hospital company plans to add about 20 beds at St.
Mary's Health Network.
It currently operates a 29-bed facility within Northern Nevada Medical Center in Sparks, treating acute patients who need long-term care.
Tahoe Pacific Hospital specializes in caring for seriously ill or injured patients who will need care for an average of 25 days, said Alan Blocher, director of program development for the organization.
It opened its doors on the seven floor of Northern Nevada Medical Center nearly seven years ago.
Tahoe Pacific leases space, hires its employees and contracts with the hospital for some services such as housekeeping.
Tahoe Pacific employs about 120 people.
The lease of additional space at St.
Mary's reflects both the population growth of northern Nevada as well as an expansion of Tahoe Pacific's marketing efforts.While most of its patients come from Reno, Sparks and Carson City, Blocher said the hospital draws referrals from northern California and outlying areas of rural Nevada.
The hospital's niche long-term acute care is driven partially by Medicare payment rules that encourage traditional hospitals to limit care to about five or six days before seeking alternatives for patients, Blocher said.
The average stay at Tahoe Pacific's facilities in Sparks is about 27days, and patients receive very focused care from a specialized organization.
Tahoe Pacific doesn't have any competitors in the business of providing acute long-term care in northern Nevada.
It's a unit of Lifecare Management Services, with headquarters in the Dallas area and Shreveport, La.
The company operates acute-care hospitals at 19 locations in the United States, and Blocher said about 60 percent of them are "hospital-in-a-hospital" facilities.
The remainder are freestanding units.