LIBERTY — Mercy Health-Youngstown and its partner, Tennessee-based Lifepoint Rehabilitation, announced Tuesday the person who will lead a new joint venture rehab hospital being built in Liberty.

Melessa Scattino, who has ties to the Mahoning Valley and to the health care provider, has been named CEO of Mercy Health Rehabilitation Hospital, the 60-bed hospital scheduled to open later this year on Belmont Avenue.

“I am honored to lead Mercy Health Rehabilitation Hospital as we expand critically needed inpatient rehabilitation services in our region,” said Scattino of Girard. “I am eager to get to work and begin building our clinical team, and I look forward to joining my colleagues at Lifepoint Rehabilitation and Mercy Health Youngstown as we create a foundation for providing safe, high-quality rehabilitation care to patients in the Mahoning Valley.”

She most recently worked as a practice manager for Mercy Health since 2023, leading operations for two Youngstown-based residency programs and three primary care practices.

Previously, she was executive director for two skilled nursing and rehabilitation facilities, The Assumption Village and Humility House, and two assisted living centers, Marian Living Center and Humility House.

In the role, she was responsible for guiding operations, recruitment and staffing, quality and safety initiatives and regulatory compliance.

It was during her tenure the Mercy Health facilities were ranked in Newsweek magazine’s Top 10 Nursing Homes in Ohio for three consecutive years, from 2020 to 2022, the year when the facilities ranked No. 1 in the state.

Scattino, who grew up in Niles, earned a bachelor’s degree in applied science, food and nutrition and dietetics from Youngstown State University. She also has a master’s degree in health education from Penn State University and a certificate in executive education, nursing home administration from Ohio State University.

Said Dr. John Luellen, president of Mercy Health-Youngstown and-Lorain, “Melessa is an experienced and talented health care leader with a strong foundation of quality and operational excellence, and we are excited to welcome her to this new role.”

Ground was broken last fall for the two-story, 66,000-square-foot facility at 3180 Belmont Ave.

The intent is to move acute rehabilitation services from St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital for greater patient convenience, which includes newer technology and equipment.

It will include 60 beds, plus a 12-bed brain injury unit. There are also plans for dialysis treatment space and rooms for physical, occupational and speech therapy, nutritional services and a pharmacy.

In April, meanwhile, Mercy Health-Youngstown and Lifepoint Behavioral Health, another business unit of Lifepoint Health, broke ground on a 72-bed inpatient behavioral hospital at 3170 Belmont Ave. adjacent to the rehab center. Construction is expected to be done next year.

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