MEDICAL

American Medical International Inc. said it has entered a joint venture to build a $13.4-million medical rehabilitation hospital next to the acute general hospital it is building in Irvine.

The 80-bed facility, to be called Irvine Rehabilitation Hospital, is a joint venture between American Medical International, a Beverly Hills-based hospital chain, and Continental Medical Systems of Mechanicsburg, Pa., a publicly held company that has 12 rehabilitation centers operating or under construction in 11 states.

Among Continental Medical Systems’ hospitals is Western Neuro Care Center, a 57-bed hospital in Tustin that specializes in head trauma, coma and ventilator-dependent patients.

The new rehabilitation hospital will be next to AMI’s Irvine Medical Center, a 177-bed general hospital under construction at Sand Canyon Avenue and Alton Parkway. The hospital is scheduled to open in a year. Construction on the rehabilitation center is scheduled to begin in the spring.

The new rehabilitation facility will provide inpatient and outpatient programs in the areas of physical, psychological, vocational, speech, recreational and occupational therapy for adults. It will also offer a 10-bed program for the treatment of traumatic brain injuries.