Skilled-nursing and rehab center opens on Vernor Highway

Ciena Healthcare celebrated Thursday the grand opening of its newest skilled-nursing and rehabilitation center in Detroit, the first to be built in the city in at least 35 years.

Regency at Chene is a 160-bed facility at 2295 E. Vernor Highway. The project cost $23 million and took about two years to complete.

“I’ve been building new buildings throughout the state, but Detroit is where I got my start and my very first nursing home on East Grand Boulevard…” said Mohammad Qazi, president of Ciena Healthcare. “Now we’re in five states and we have 80-plus buildings, but I’ve always been wanting to build in Detroit."

Qazi was joined Thursday by officials including Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, City Councilwoman Janeé Ayers and representatives from the offices of U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow and U.S. Sen. Gary Peters.

The 93,652-square-foot facility will replace two smaller facilities on East Grand Boulevard and will accommodate additional patients. Regency at Chene also creates about 100 new jobs as it employs more than 200 people in full-time and part-time positions.

The facility has 46 private suites, 55 semi-private suites, four bariatric suites and a state-of-the-art rehabilitation gym. Amenities include three dining rooms, lounges for families and guests, a café, library and full-service salon.

Regency at Chene is Ciena Healthcare’s ninth center in Detroit, 12th in Wayne County and 40th location in Michigan. It’s the first Qazi has built from the ground up in Detroit. 

A tour of the facility Thursday afternoon revealed suite rooms featuring tranquil décor with various shades of blue, gray and white in the color scheme. The semi-private suites offer a balance of privacy and companionship with a partial partition wall separating the beds.

The activity room offers a gathering space for patients.

“It’s not the typical activity room,” said Christine Wade, vice president of business development for Ciena Healthcare. “It’s really comfortable and cozy and encourages people to be out of their rooms continuing their rehab not just when you’re in therapy.”

Services include 24-hour nursing care as well as physical, occupational and speech therapy under the direction of a board-certified physician. If the need arises, after hours a physician can teleconference into the facility to avoid unnecessary patient trips to the hospital, Wade said 

Patients from two smaller facilities on East Grand Boulevard will move into the new facility beginning next week, Wade said.

Qazi will then donate those buildings to Detroit Rescue Mission to use as a job training center and a place for returning citizens and low-crime offenders to receive help getting back on their feet. He has donated other buildings to the organization in the past. 

"He's a very generous man," Chad Audi, president and CEO of Detroit Rescue Mission, said of Qazi. "Very compassionate. Loves Detroit. He has been always trying to make a difference in people's life."

cwilliams@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @CWilliams_DN