The facility will be one-story and 42,000 square-feet. It will be located at 2300 North Limestone Street and is expected to open either by the end of this year or early 2022, according to a news release from Kettering Health.
“Our mission compels us to provide high-quality health care – as close to home as possible – for those we serve,” said Fred Manchur, the CEO of Kettering Health Network.
“For many years, we have served the residents of Springfield and Clark County at various hospitals and clinics throughout our network. Now is the right time to invest in Springfield more intentionally by bringing services that enhance wellness and serve residents in their time of need,” he added in the news release.
Construction for the project began in the end of 2020, according to a spokesperson with Kettering Health. The facility will be built at a former Kroger location that was purchased by Kettering Health in 2019.
The Kroger location on North Limestone closed earlier in 2019 and was transferred to Kettering Health in December of that year. The property was officially purchased for $2.2 million by the Ohio limited-liability company AMVO in September of 2019, according to the Clark County Auditor’s Office.
It was the second major purchase Kettering Health made in the Springfield area in 2019 after buying the site of its Springfield Health Center at 2100 Emmanuel Way that summer for $2.5 million.
The new medical facility that will be on North Limestone will include a 24/7 emergency room as well outpatient services including lab and imaging services. It will also feature medical offices for primary care and specialty services.
Once completed, it is expected to employ 50 full-time positions, the release added.
The new location is expected to build upon Kettering Health’s existing services in Springfield. The health system has a primary care office on Middle Urbana Road as well as a health center on Emmanuel Way that offers imaging services, physical and occupational therapy, primary care and specialty services.
“Having quick access to health care is vital to the overall well-being of a community,” Manchur said.
Kettering Health’s planned North Limestone location is also the latest in a number of emergency departments — both freestanding and hospital-attached — that have been added to the region in recent years.
The Springfield News-Sun previously reported that emergency department visits can be an important business gateway that lead to patients receiving referrals for more services within the hospital system, such as x-rays, lab testing or surgeries.
Kettering Health has opened ERs in Piqua and Troy over the last two years. Before that, it opened an ER in Middletown as part of a new medical center, as well as added ERs in Franklin and Huber Heights.
Mercy Health, which operates the Springfield Regional Medical Center as well as the Urbana Hospital, opened an ER in Enon in September 2019.
The growth of health care in a particular region can be attributed to the area’s demographics as well as growth in its economy, said Horton Hobbs, the vice president of economic development for the Chamber of Greater Springfield.
Hobbs said that the Springfield area does have a sizable senior population and the area is seeing an increase in its general population. Those factors are something that can be attractive to health care companies as they look to expand their presence, he added.
Ohio was ranked fourth in the nation in migration growth during 2020 and Springfield was among the state’s “leading growth” cities, according to data from U-Haul, the moving-truck rental company.
By the numbers:
$20 million - Amount of money Kettering Health says construction of new medical facility in Springfield will cost
$2.2 million - Amount Kettering paid to purchase former Kroger location on North Limestone
50 - Number of full time jobs that will be added in the area as a result of the new medical facility
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