Select Medical Corp., a national rehab chain based in Cumberland County, is giving $5 million to Harrisburg University of Science and Technology over the next five years.
The gift, announced yesterday, will support the school’s undergraduate program in exercise science and a doctoral program for physical therapists.
“We are thrilled to partner with Harrisburg University to shape the future generation of physical therapists,” Select Medical co-founder and executive chairman Bob Ortenzio said in a statement.
“We see a tremendous opportunity to help students prepare and successfully enter the field as they endeavor to advance their learning and careers,” added Ortenzio, who is on the board of Harrisburg University.
Mechanicsburg-based Select Medical employs more than 8,000 physical therapists nationwide in its specialty hospitals and outpatient rehab centers.
Demand for the professionals is expected to grow in the years ahead. However, PT clinics face staffing challenges, according to a report last fall by the American Physical Therapy Association.
What’s next: Formation of the Select Medical Institute of Physical Therapy and Movement at Harrisburg University.
The institute will offer career and educational opportunities for students, as well as professional development for people already in the field.
Select Medical’s gift also will support conferences, clinical residencies, fellowship programs and research initiatives.
“This generous contribution represents yet another chapter in Select Medical’s ongoing commitment to enhancing the healthcare workforce and their continued investment in Harrisburg University,” HU president Eric Darr said in a statement.
The school already offers tuition discounts to Select Medical employees, as well as their spouses and family members, according to its website.
The beneficiary: The gift comes as Harrisburg University works to turn around its finances following losses in its fiscal years 2022 and 2023.
The university missed a monthly bond prepayment of about $1 million in May, though it made up the payment later in the month, according to HU spokesperson Jessica Warren.
HU has not missed any of its twice-yearly bond payments due in April and October, she added.
The school had been operating in the black through March 31 of its current fiscal year, which began July 1, 2023. But it tipped into the red as of April 30, according to financial statements disclosed to bondholders.
Expenses (not counting depreciation) totaled $61.7 million for the fiscal year to date, with revenue coming in at just under $59 million.
Select Medical is not the only healthcare giant to step up in recent years. Pittsburgh-based UPMC bestowed a seven-figure gift on the school for naming rights to HU’s new, 11-story building in downtown Harrisburg, now known as the UPMC Health Sciences Tower at Harrisburg University.
The exact value of UPMC’s gift has not been disclosed.
The benefactor: Founded in 1997, Select Medical operates a network of critical illness recovery hospitals, rehab hospitals, outpatient rehab centers and workplace health clinics in 46 states and the District of Columbia.
The company had revenue of $6.7 billion in 2023, up from $6.3 billion in 2022.
Its net income last year was $299.7 million, up from $159 million the previous year.
The company is working this year to spin out its workplace health division, Concentra, which had revenue last year of more than $1.8 billion.
