To read the entirety of the original article on Township View written by Bill Petzol, please click here

KOCHVILLE TWP, MI – If the average person looks north of Tittabawassee Road a hundred yards or so west of Mackinaw Road, he or she likely sees an empty 15-acre field.

But Hamza Sikander, managing director of Comfort Care Senior Living, sees the future of short-term rehabilitation and senior services and the first state-of-the-art facility in the Great Lakes Bay Region – Great Lakes Rehab Center.

“We’re building a pharmacy, and we’ll have our memory care and assisted living over there as well, our central office, a group homecare and hospice,” Sikander said, pointing out various areas of the property where those buildings are slated to be built. A groundbreaking ceremony was held Friday, Sept. 23, at the construction site.

“Our focus is on continuous care,” Sikander said. “If someone needs help, we’re going to be able to provide all aspects of care. … In the past, there haven’t been many projects that provide the whole continuum of care. That’s what we’re going to do, and people will be able to move (between levels of care) as they need.”

The project is a joint venture between Comfort Care and a group of Tri-Cities physicians who have served the area for decades, and it begins with Great Lakes Rehab Center – a 55-bed, all-private facility with 8,000 square feet of rehab space, the largest of its kind in Saginaw County. The entire project is estimated at about $35 million, with the rehab center coming in at slightly more than $10 million.

“If you look in the Tri-City area, you will not find any dedicated, skilled short-term rehab (facilities) – a lot of them are designed as long-term rehab,” Sikander said. “If you go (south) past Grand Blanc, you find a lot of shortterm facilities. If somebody has an accident – you could have an accident or I could have an accident – you need to get into therapy. You come in and stay for nine days and you move to the next step.”

Sikander said the continuous care model also helps individuals rehabilitate more quickly. Ongoing education and training for Great Lakes Rehab Center team members also is planned to ensure the center employs the latest healthcare techniques and highest quality of service.

Comfort Care Senior Living officials, partnering physicians and Kochville Township officials including township manager Jeff Zittel. He and Sikander spoke briefly to the crowd about the project.

“We’re excited about partnering with Hamza and his group,” Zittel said. “A lot of credit goes to our township board and to our township planning commission for being able to see the value of the project and to bring it to fruition. I think the main objective for us is to work with quality projects, and I think this fits right into that whole vision.”

In addition to the medical facilities, the site plan calls for multiple café bistros, restaurant-style dining with gourmet cuisine, spa areas and an outdoor gazebo with several fountains.