Ohio State to build $183 million Wexner Medical campus in Powell
POWELL, Ohio (WCMH) — Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center is expected to start building a $183 million outpatient campus in Powell this spring, a years-long effort once regarded as the “largest economic development project” in the city’s history.
The new outpatient facility will be built on nearly 30 acres at the northeast corner of Home Road and Sawmill Parkway, across from Olentangy Liberty High School. The medical center’s board approved in February a $165 million request for the bulk of building costs, allowing for construction to begin as early as April.
“The Wexner Medical Center Outpatient Care Powell will be the largest economic development project in Powell’s history,” said Powell city manager Andrew White in 2022 when Ohio State trustees approved funding to begin designing the campus. “The facility’s economic impact will help perpetuate access to superior public service and quality of life today — and attract future investments in the city. This is a great win for Powell.”
Plans call for the Powell campus to include a two-story health center and an attached five-story medical office. Once completed, the facility who provide services like physical therapy, endoscopy and advanced urgent care.
This summer will mark six years since Wexner Medical Center announced the Powell campus proposal in June of 2018. While city officials approved the site’s final development plan in December of 2019, the university delayed the start of construction due to financial pressures from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The healthcare system’s new campus will mark the third and most expensive facility as part of a new suburban outpatient care program aimed at providing convenient access to services. The program’s $137 million New Albany campus opened in 2021 followed by a $161 million Dublin facility in 2022.
“It’s not just a new building, it’s a new way of delivering care,” said L. Arick Forrest, the medical center’s director of ambulatory services, when the Dublin campus opened. “We want to achieve optimal health for our patients, and we want to provide care where and when patients need it.”
The medical center is aiming to open the Powell campus in August of 2026.
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