"We currently have 3,000 patients and are booked out 90 days for our new patient appointments, so there's definitely a need in the community for this type of facility," according to Dawn Cook, practice manager for Kettering Physician Network Primary Care at Hamilton Health Center.
The new center has already created about 15 jobs, including primary care and advanced practice providers, registered nurses and support staff, with several technicians for the center’s X-ray and ultrasound services yet to be hired, Cook said.
MORE: Fort Hamilton’s new special care nursery is latest Butler County effort to help babies and mothers
Fort Hamilton Hospital President Ron Connovich said the Hamilton Health Center on Main is a “big asset” because it provides the access to primary care that local residents need.
“As we go into the future, more and more stuff is being done as outpatient in the primary care setting, deliberately trying to keep patients out of the acute environment, out of the hospitals physically, because this is where they should be treated,” Connovich said. “This is more cost-effective care.”
Those acute patients who need greater care in an inpatient setting will contribute to Fort Hamilton Hospital’s inpatient numbers, “but only to the level that is appropriate, because we try to keep them out as much as we can,” he said.
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Hamilton Health Center on Main isn't just an extension of Fort Hamilton Hospital. Its under the auspices of Kettering Health Network, a Dayton-based, not-for-profit network of eight hospitals, 11 emergency departments, 120 outpatient facilities, nearly 12,000 employees and 2,100 physicians serving southwest Ohio.
The network’s hospitals are Fort Hamilton Hospital in Hamilton, as well as Kettering, Grandview, Sycamore, Southview, Greene Memorial, Soin and Kettering Behavioral Medicine.
Besides Fort Hamilton Hospital, it operates 14 other entities in Butler County, including outpatient services and physicians in Hamilton, Middletown, Oxford, Fairfield, Fairfield Twp. and Ross Twp.
MORE: Fort Hamilton Hospital adding community physicians, expanding services
Fred Manchur, CEO of Kettering Health Network, said Hamilton Health Care on Main was planned with ample room to expand, which will add both jobs and services to the facility.
“Plus, there will be other locations, too,” Manchur said. “We plan to continue our growth.”
Hamilton Mayor Pat Moeller said Hamilton Health Center on Main is a “big deal” for local residents.
“Obviously we need a health care facility that’s going to have 10 to 12 doctors, 24 exam rooms, easily accessible from parking to getting into the building,” he said. “This is a big, bright spot for health care in the city of Hamilton. Quality health care with quality personnel.”
The new health center stands where a roller skating rink stood since the 1970s. The nearly 1.5-acre property was sold for $950,000 and the rink was demolished in February 2018.
BY THE NUMBERS: Hamilton Health Center on Main
$6 million: cost of the new facility
16,000: square footage
15: amount of new jobs, with more on the way
24: amount of exam rooms
3,000: amount of patients with Kettering Physician Network Primary Care at Hamilton Health Center
Source: Kettering Health Network
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