Posted on March 28, 2018
Inn at Mary Free Bed expansion accommodates more patients, families
GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. – Nicholas Burrell comes to Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital each week for outpatient therapy, traveling about 90 minutes from his home north of Shelby, Michigan. It’s a fairly long trek, but staying overnight at the Inn at Mary Free Bed makes it possible.
Nicholas, 32, arrives in the afternoon for a therapy session, then stops for a bite to eat in the cafeteria before heading to the inn to rest and sleep before a second therapy session the next morning.
“It’s very helpful to have the inn available as a place to stay,” Nicholas said. “Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been feasible for me.”
In January 2017, Nicholas was scouting for a place to fish in an unfamiliar area when he fell through the ice. He developed such severe frostbite that doctors were forced to amputate both of his legs. After spending several weeks at Mary Free Bed in the inpatient Amputee Program, he graduated to outpatient therapy and has been working with the Orthotics & Prosthetics + Bionics team on customized prosthetic legs. The distance from his home makes staying at the inn a convenient option for Nicholas and others who live far from Grand Rapids.
Mary Free Bed is celebrating the opening of 10 additional rooms at the inn and renovations to six existing rooms. Expansion will begin soon for another six rooms with completion expected next year, for a total of 22 rooms. In 2017, more than 3,700 people stayed at the inn. The expansion provides thousands of additional patients and families with convenient housing.
The inn facelift marks the final phase of Mary Free Bed’s $66.4 million expansion and renovation project, making it the fifth-largest independent rehabilitation hospital in the United States. Housed in the Mary Ives Hunting Center on the corner of Lafayette Avenue and Wealthy Street, the inn is conveniently located on Mary Free Bed’s downtown Grand Rapids campus.
Nicholas, for one, is glad for the option.
“Mary Free Bed is the best place for me, so I’m thankful the inn is here,” he said. “It’s nice and quiet, and the people here are helpful and understanding. I sleep well when I’m here.”
For more information or to make a reservation, visit maryfreebed.com/inn or call 616.840.8100.
The Inn at Mary Free Bed features and amenities:
* Spacious, comfortable, fully accessible suites and rooms with flat-screen televisions, wireless Internet access, phone, climate control and room-darkening blinds.
* Universal access includes comfortable seating and tables that raise and lower. Kitchenette with under-counter refrigerator. Open bathroom without threshold to shower that has a mounted seat, grab bars and adjustable showerhead.
* Easily accessible by hallways connecting the Mary Free Bed Professional Building and a skywalk across Lafayette Avenue to the main hospital and Outpatient Therapy Center.
* Community area with a computer workstation
* Dining area with microwaves
* Complementary continental breakfast served daily, sponsored by SpartanNash
* Reserved parking
