California Rehabilitation Institute names John Behzad its first Chief Executive Officer

LOS ANGELES, April 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- California Rehabilitation Institute has named John Behzad as its Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Behzad joins the hospital from Johns Hopkins Medicine and will lead a unique, three-way partnership among Cedars-Sinai, UCLA Health System, and Select Medical to bring the best of physical medicine and rehabilitation to Los Angeles.

"When you bring together two of the nation's best health care institutions and Select Medical's highly regarded rehabilitation expertise to develop a world-class rehabilitation hospital for the West, you want to have an experienced, hands-on leader at the facility, and we're fortunate to have John in this crucial role," said Thomas M. Priselac, Cedars-Sinai president and CEO.

"I am excited to have been appointed as CEO," stated Behzad. This is a unique opportunity to build a world-class hospital, with a comprehensive array of physical medicine and rehabilitation services, for the Southern California community." Behzad added, "Also a great opportunity to partner with two of the most respected health systems – Cedars-Sinai and UCLA Health System – to deliver high quality inpatient rehabilitation services."

In December 2013, Select Medical announced a partnership with Cedars-Sinai and the UCLA Health System to create the California Rehabilitation Institute, a 138-bed acute inpatient rehabilitation hospital that will be located in the former Doctor's Hospital in Century City.

The rehabilitation hospital will serve a growing need in the community for inpatient rehabilitation and is also expected to serve as a center for treating complex rehabilitation cases from across the nation.

Behzad brings more than 20 years of experience in healthcare operations, finance, and information technology at top-tier health care systems to the California Rehabilitation Institute. Since 1999, Behzad has worked at John Hopkins Medicine where he was the Administrator of its Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation service line for the last 11 years.   

Behzad, who previously worked in Los Angeles, is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE) and is a certified public accountant and certified information systems auditor.  He holds an M.B.A. in strategic management from The Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School, and served as an associate faculty member at The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.  He also has completed several executive education programs at Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business and
the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. 

"John has extensive experience in the day-to-day operations of running a world-class rehabilitation center that was focused on delivering high quality care and services," said David S. Chernow, President and CEO of Select Medical, the joint venture's managing partner. "His background is truly ideal to lead this new endeavor."  

"The new hospital will be offering advanced rehabilitation treatments for patients with spinal cord and brain injuries, stroke and other acute conditions," said Dr. John Mazziotta, Vice Chancellor of UCLA Health Sciences, Dean of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and CEO of UCLA Health. "John will help us ensure that the California Rehabilitation Institute delivers leading-edge technologies for its patients in a compassionate and patient-centered manner. He will find great partners among the participating medical leaders to do exactly that."

Select Medical, a leading provider of long-term acute care and rehabilitation, is based in Pennsylvania. It operates hospitals and outpatient locations in 44 states including the renowned Kessler Institute of Rehabilitation in New Jersey. Select Medical also partners with a number of academic medical centers such as Baylor Health System, Cleveland Clinic, Emory Healthcare and Penn State Hershey Medical Center, among others, to manage and operate rehabilitation hospitals.

Once fully operational in early 2016, California Rehabilitation Institute will employ approximately 300 people. 

SOURCE California Rehabilitation Institute