The local increase is something that’s occurring not just in the region, but statewide and nationwide, according to John Palmer, director of media and public relations for the Ohio Hospital Association, whose membership is comprised of 220 hospitals and 13 health systems.
Growth trends include micro-hospitals with stylized services and lower bed counts — sometimes as low as 12 to 16 beds — and emergency department centers designed to ease overcrowding at larger hospitals, Palmer said.
“A lot of that growth exists in response to … population growth trends that are occurring,” he said. “Community demographics are changing constantly and employment trends often are important variables for those health care decisions that are happening (as) new employers are coming in.”
Also factors in recent and near-future growth are a rapidly expanding Medicare population, plus changes to the way health care is delivered, with more health care systems opting for outpatient facilities rather than inpatient buildings, Palmer said.
UC Health
Changes abound at the UC Health-West Chester Hospital campus, which this month added a new UC Health Neurosurgery Clinic, according to Kristy Davis, spokesperson for the hospital. The campus also will be offering cranial surgery this year as part of an expanded neuro sciences plan.
West Chester Hospital also will increase its capacity to manage both routine and complex scanning studies with the addition of a new MRI machine, bringing the total number of high-end MRI scanners on its campus to three, Davis said.
In February, the campus plans to add a fixed unit PET/CT that will continue to support its cancer care programs. It also will open a second IR (Interventional Radiology) Procedure Room in the Surgical Center to accommodate the increase in patient demand for the spine/pain management services.
The new services will join the hospital’s growing neurological care capabilities, punctuated by the recent opening of the West Chester Hospital Epilepsy Monitoring Unit for in-patient services, which will use 24-hour EEG monitoring to diagnose and target seizures.
“Our imaging specialists use advanced brain-imaging techniques to locate seizures,” Davis said. “Then they map brain areas that control language, motor and memory functions, making surgery safer and more effective.”
Premier Health
Premier Health is set to build two new facilities in Butler County. A new 12,000-square-foot health center will be constructed at 6615 Cincinnati-Dayton Road in Liberty Twp. That location will house a primary care practice, specialty physicians and other services.
Premier Health also will construct a new health center on a 16.3-acre property at the northwest corner of Ohio 63 and North Main Street in Monroe. The more than 19,000-square-foot facility will house a primary care practice, specialty physicians and potentially other services.
Both projects are slated to start construction in the first quarter of this year and be completed before year’s end, according to Atrium Medical Center spokeswoman Chelsey Levingston.
Atrium this month announced the addition of a new advanced diagnostic imaging computed tomography system, which enables physicians there obtain high-definition images of the body at a lower dose of radiation for a wide range of clinical applications.
That type of imaging can be helpful in diagnosing injuries or fractures or in identifying disease in its earliest stages. The CT scanner will be used for cardiologym, neurology, oncology, vascular and other general CT studies.
The Dayton-based health system in 2017 opened at Atrium Medical Center a Senior Emergency Center and its Natural Beginnings Birth Center, the Cincinnati area’s only natural birth center in an acute care hospital.
Kettering Health Network
Work continues on the Kettering Middletown, Kettering Health Network $30 million medical facility on Ohio 122, just southeast of Interstate 75.
The 67,000-square-foot Warren County medical center will include a full-service emergency department, outpatient lab and imaging services and a medical office building for physician practices. It is expected to create 110 new jobs, including registered nurses, respiratory therapists, imaging and lab technicians and support staff.
Kettering Middletown is scheduled to open this summer, according to Kettering Health spokeswoman Elizabeth Long.
Kettering Health Network will continue to work on plans for a medical facility on 1.5 acres at 1391 W. Main St. in Hamilton, one that is expected to include physician offices and outpatient services.
Christ Hospital Health Network
Christ Hospital Health Network on Jan. 8 opened its new $62 million medical center at 6939 Cox Road in Liberty Twp. The 120,000 square-foot Christ Hospital Medical Center-Liberty Twp. includes an emergency room and offers surgical services including operating rooms with extended recovery for patients, plus a state-of-the-art family birthing center, radiology and imaging, physical therapy, general surgery, dermatology, endocrinology, podiatry.
There are also physician services such as primary care, orthopedics, cardiology, urology and more.
The new facility is the largest ever built by the health system other than the hospital’s main campus in Mount Auburn.
Mercy Health Partners
Mercy Health-Fairfield Hospital in 2017 became the first hospital in Butler County to have the da Vinci Xi Surgical System, the newest and most advanced robot used in minimally invasive surgery.
The device allows doctors to perform surgical procedures for a wide range of complex conditions through 1- to 2-centimeter incisions.
MORE: Fairfield hospital performs first surgery with new robot device
TriHealth
TriHealth continues to work on finalizing details for a new ambulatory care center to be constructed just south of Liberty Way in West Chester Twp.
The health care system originally contracted with project developer Miller-Valentine Group to purchase 33 acres at 8000 Liberty Way and develop the medical center there but opted last year to switch the project’s location.
TriHealth’s McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital in 2017 completed the second phase of its Growing To Meet Your Needs Campaign with the opening of three new surgical suites at the Oxford hospital.
The new suites are approximately 40 percent larger than the previous surgical rooms.
CONTINUED COVERAGE
The Journal-News gave a sneak peek at the new The Christ Hospital Medical Center-Liberty Twp. before it opened, and this is the second of a two-day series on the impact of the facility to Liberty Twp. development and scope of the health care facilities in the region.
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