Murfreesboro Breaks Ground on 40-Bed Rehabilitation Hospital Near Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford

Murfreesboro, Tennessee, has a new hospital job under way. Ascension Saint Thomas and Lifepoint Rehabilitation broke ground Tuesday, October 27th, on the Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford Rehabilitation Hospital, WGNS reported. It is an inpatient rehab hospital meant to keep Rutherford County patients from driving to Nashville for stroke, brain injury, spinal cord and orthopedic recovery.

Lifepoint Rehabilitation, part of Brentwood-based Lifepoint Health, will run the hospital through a joint venture with Ascension Saint Thomas.

What's being built

The building is two stories and about 62,700 square feet, on a four-acre site less than 600 yards from Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford hospital. When the state approved the project in 2025, the partners said it would sit on Kennedy Drive, next to the hospital campus, according to Lifepoint's announcement at the time.

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The first phase is a 40-bed hospital with all private patient rooms. The layout leaves room to add 10 more beds later.

Inside, the plans call for:

a 12-bed acquired brain injury unit
a physical therapy gym
a covered outdoor therapy courtyard
a pharmacy and dining spaces
dedicated therapy work rooms

Timeline

Construction is expected to wrap up in late 2027, according to Lifepoint's groundbreaking release.

The project took longer to reach the dirt than first planned. After the Tennessee Health Facilities Commission granted the certificate of need in April 2025, the partners said they expected to break ground later that year and open in 2027. The shovels went in this week instead, and the opening target is still 2027.

Jobs once it opens

The hospital is expected to create about 85.7 full-time equivalent positions in its first year, split between an estimated 43.9 clinical and 41.8 nonclinical jobs.

"For 100 years, Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford has cared for generations of families in this community," Daphne David, president and CEO of Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford, said in the release. She said the partnership lets patients move from hospital treatment to rehab while staying close to their families.

Russ Bailey, president of Lifepoint Rehabilitation, said the brain injury unit, therapy gym and courtyard are each designed around helping patients get back to daily life.

Who it serves

The partners said the hospital will take patients from across Central Tennessee, which they called one of the state's fastest-growing regions, so fewer families have to travel to Nashville for rehab care.

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