What you need to know about 3 upcoming health center projects in the Columbus area
Nearly three years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, health care providers in the Columbus area are starting to refocus their attention on their facilities.
The latest example came just last week, when OhioHealth announced it will invest $400 million to expand and remodel parts of its Grant Medical Center campus in downtown Columbus over the next five years.
But it's not the only local health system looking to expand services — or to meet an underserved need in central Ohio.
Here are three other health care center projects on which officials recently broke ground or which are otherwise in the works in the Columbus area:
Franklin County Mental Health and Addiction Crisis Center
Franklin County, its Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Board and the Central Ohio Hospital Council broke ground in February on their new Mental Health and Addiction Crisis Center, 465 Harmon Ave. Located in South Franklinton, it's across from the Franklin County Children's Services building, south of Interstate 70.
The nearly $60 million project remains on track for an expected 2025 opening, with officials in the process of finalizing paperwork and other elements within the next 30 days before gearing up for construction, ADAMH spokesperson Shelly Hoffman told The Dispatch.
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Once completed, the facility, which will be operated by RI International, will include an observation unit, a short-term inpatient unit and a walk-in clinic. It also will be the preferred place for first responders to take patients in need of addiction or psychiatric care.
Franklin County, ADAMH, the city of Columbus, local hospital systems and the state of Ohio have each contributed millions toward the project, the idea for which was conceived at least eight years ago.
Youth mental health facility at The Buckeye Ranch
Meanwhile, The Buckeye Ranch and Nationwide Children's Hospital expect to break ground this spring on a new 48-bed residential mental health treatment facility for youth on some of the more than 80 acres at the ranch's existing site at 5665 Hoover Road, Grove City.
The new 57,000-square-foot facility will feature a new education center, updated space for intensive treatment and a welcome center, according to The Buckeye Ranch. It will mainly serve youth who have left the hospital but need continued support before returning home.
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“These changes will help us modernize mental health treatment, implementing a holistic, innovative, and coordinated approach to the continuum of care that was not achievable in our previous facilities,” said Sarah Book, vice president of residential services at The Buckeye Ranch.
“Our goal is to help youth and their families navigate a severe mental health crisis and put into place the resources needed to promote further healing beyond an inpatient stay and prepare youth for a safe return to their communities,” Book said.
Expected to open in 2025, the expansion will be funded through a combination of operations and a capital fundraising campaign, according to the nonprofit.
Ohio State University rehabilitation hospital
Discussions continue around the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center's plans to build a three-story adult inpatient rehabilitation hospital slated to open in 2025 on Taylor Avenue on Columbus' Near East Side, adjacent to the medical center's Outpatient Care East, near Ohio State East Hospital.
The new 86,000-square-foot, 80-bed hospital facility, which would replace the 60-bed Dodd Rehabilitation Hospital, is the result of a partnership between the Wexner Medical Center and LifePoint Health, of Brentwood, Tennessee. It would specialize in treatment and research for patients with stroke, brain and spinal cord injuries.
But some Near East Side leaders and residents expressed concern when they found out plans for the new facility called for the demolition of the Henderson House, a historic home built on property once owned by former president and Ohio Gov. Rutherford B. Hayes.
More:Residents worried about OSU Wexner's planned demolition of historic house for rehab center
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The century-old house was later owned by a prominent and affluent Black lawyer, Leonard Henderson, who had a Downtown law practice. He hosted visiting Black celebrities, such as Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and boxer Joe Louis, at his home, when segregation remained in Columbus.
During a Feb. 6 community meeting, Amanda Lucas, the medical center's executive director of clinical operations for the Ohio State Neurological Institute and of Ohio State Harding Hospital, said an engineering assessment of the house was being done.
On Friday, Wexner Medical Center spokesperson Marti Leitch told The Dispatch she did not have an update yet on the assessment but said the medical center removed its zoning application from the Near East Area Commission agenda "to allow more time for meaningful collaboration with our community.
"We highly value the feedback we received at the recent listening sessions, and we are taking our neighbors' comments under thoughtful consideration," Leitch said.
"Ohio State remains firmly committed to development on the Near East Side such as bringing primary and specialty care and outpatient services to the neighborhood, including life-saving emergency and trauma care services at East Hospital and creating numerous healthy community programs for all ages."
Dispatch reporters Monroe Trombly, Mark Ferenchik and Eric Lagatta contributed to this report.
nshuda@dispatch.com
@NathanielShuda
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Upcoming Columbus-area health center projects: What you need to know
