News Summary

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The coming year will bring to completion two local health care construction projects, while the third largest construction project will continue towards its 2012 grand opening date.

Ohio Valley Medical Center is on track to open its doors in April, completing the city's first construction project under the new unified design plan for downtown construction. The 46,000-square-foot, short-stay surgical hospital will house general surgery; urology; gynecology, including women's reproductive services; orthopedics; ear, nose and throat; ophthalmology; podiatry; and gastroenterology.

Springfield-Clark Career Technology Center students are expected to complete a 5,300-square-foot addition to the Clark County Combined Health District by June. The joint venture is expected to save taxpayers more than $500,000 in labor costs, provide more room for patient services and allow staff, currently working out of storage closets, to move into adequate space.

Construction that began in October on Community Mercy Health Partners' $240 million Springfield Regional Medical Center will continue this year. It includes the rerouting of North Plum Street, which will be moved one block west to make room for the new health care campus.

In addition to an uncertain economy, other challenges lie ahead for local health providers, including:

• Surgeon investors in Ohio Valley Medical Center are facing a March trial date to see if the court will release them from a disputed non-compete clause with Springfield Surgery Center. If the court does not find in the surgeons' favor, they will be prohibited from investing in a competing entity such as Ohio Valley.

• Clark County Health Commissioner Charles Patterson will head to the statehouse in February for hearings concerning proposed state cuts to many public health programs. The most vulnerable program locally is the Help Me Grow program, funded almost entirely with grant money, Patterson said.

• Community Mercy Health Partners will work to regain full accreditation from the Joint Commission, which gave the health care system conditional accreditation for failure to meet 25 of more than 230 quality standards in 2008. A follow-up on-site survey by the Joint Commission is expected before summer.

Some good news appears to be on the horizon for The Rocking Horse Community Health Center, which is expecting to hear "any day now" whether it has received the designation of a Federally Qualified Community Health Center.

If so designated, the center, which is slated to lose more than $600,000 in local support this year, will see increased reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid.

Contact this reporter at 937-328-0347 or at kmori@coxohio.com