Former IndyCar driver Sam Schmidt opens facility Tuesday to help people with paralysis

A new rehabilitation center for people with paralysis that’s being hailed as the best in the country is set to open Tuesday in Carmel.

Former IndyCar driver and current team co-owner Sam Schmidt is opening the Driven NeuroRecovery Center powered by Indianapolis-based outpatient therapy clinic NeuroHope.

After a racing accident in 2000 left Schmidt a quadriplegic, he created a not-for-profit called Conquer Paralysis Now, which has invested $21.4 million to convert the former Five Seasons Sports Club into a state-of-the-art rehab center.

“I’ve been paralyzed for 24 years and I’ve literally searched the world looking for the best techniques, the best technology, the best equipment…there is nothing like this in the entire United States right now,” Schmidt told Inside INdiana Business. “[This facility] will draw people not just from the entire U.S., but from around the world.”

Plans for the facility were first announced in August 2023. Schmidt’s organization opened the first Driven Center in Las Vegas, where he lives, in 2018.

“I think it was important for me to do it there to start, because that was my home. I could develop it. I could see what works, what doesn’t work,” Schmidt said. Indy “has been my second home—it’s the Speedway, it’s the people here, it’s the quality of life.”

The not-for-profit plans to create up to 40 jobs at the center by the end of 2026. The facility will offer high tech equipment, social areas, adaptive sports arena and more.

“You’ve had a traumatic injury, but how can we get past that? How can we create some goals, combine that with technology, physical activity, mental health services, and get you back on the road to recovery,” Schmidt said. “Getting back to a job, getting a scholarship, getting a degree, getting your driver’s license, that is what’s critical after a traumatic injury, and we can make that happen.”

NeuroHope’s staff and equipment have moved into the facility, which will offer outpatient services addressing more than 30 neurological conditions. The not-for-profit has a 10-year track record working with people battling paralysis.

“Ever since I started the race team, it’s always been about collaboration. You have amazing medical [care] here [and] amazing nonprofits doing great work. All we want to do is lift them up, turbocharge all of them, make it a one stop shop,” Schmidt said. “Let’s have them be a part of it, and that just gives us the ability and the resources to go tackle other problems and find out what is missing in Indianapolis, and try and provide that for the community.”

LISTEN: IBJ Podcast with Sam Schmidt

Schmidt says even the best private insurance covers only six weeks of inpatient rehab. The new center will serve clients even after insurance runs out.

But Schmidt says the facility won’t just be all work and no play; the center can be an all-day hangout for clients, including the adaptive sports arena.

“I want about four lanes of a hand-cycle racetrack around the entire perimeter, hopefully Indianapolis Motor Speedway-themed,” he said. “And in the middle of that will be … sort of multipurpose. It can be wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby.”

Knowing Indy’s need for speed, Schmidt will also bring his modified racing Corvette to the facility. Driven by head and mouth movements, clients at the center will get to take it for a spin.

Driven is located at 1300 E. 96th St and is hosting a grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony on Tuesday. Schmidt gave Inside INdiana Business of Health reporter Kylie Veleta a tour of the facility.

The Indiana Economic Development Corp. committed up to $660,000 to Conquer Paralysis Now in the form of incentive-based tax credits based on the organization’s job-creation plans. The tax credits are performance-based, and the organization is eligible to claim them once people are hired.

The IEDC will also provide up to $750,000 in redevelopment tax credit credits.

The IBJ’s Daniel Bradley contributed to this report.