58,000-square-foot facility has been empty since March 2011

Lake Travis Specialty Hospital, vacant since its 2011 completion, is now leased to Vibra Healthcare. The company plans to develop the site into a physical rehabilitation hospital, said Mike Soisson, Vibra Healthcare senior vice president of development.

The approximately 58,000-square-foot hospital is located at 2000 Medical Drive in Lakeway behind the Lakeway Post Office. Vibra Healthcare entered into a long-term lease with property owner Health Care REIT in September, Soisson said.

The building was about 80 percent complete during its last state inspection in March 2011, he said.

Although the facility's opening is dependent on the building's final inspection, the new hospital could open in May or June, Soisson said. Vibra Healthcare plans to staff about 200 mostly local employees when the facility is at full capacity, he said.

Vibra Healthcare operates both long-term acute-care and rehabilitation hospitals, but Soisson said a rehabilitation model would be a better fit for the Lakeway market. The Lakeway building has the capacity for 42 patient beds, and Vibra Healthcare will be adding a physical therapy gym to the two-story structure, he said.

He said the Medical Drive site will ultimately connect to Lakeway's new downtown center, The Oaks at Lakeway.

Soisson said the hospital will provide a physical therapy program for all age groups. He said the Lakeway area was chosen for the new facility based on data that reflected that local residents travel to downtown Austin for that type of care rather than staying closer to home.

"The whole goal is to get them back home [after a stroke, accident or major medical issue] and to keep them home," he said. "[The program] is a wonderful level of care in terms of keeping people independent."