Athens, OH,
17
October
2016
|
16:20 PM
Europe/Amsterdam

OhioHealth to donate Doctors Hospital Nelsonville to Integrated Services for Behavioral Health

Agreement will mean new life, new purpose for landmark facility

 

OhioHealth announced last month that they have signed a memorandum of understanding formalizing their intent to donate the former OhioHealth Doctors Hospital Nelsonville to Integrated Services for Behavioral Health.

Integrated Services, based in Athens, provides comprehensive behavioral health care throughout central and southeastern Ohio along with affordable housing and community development services.

According to Kevin Gillespie, MHSA, RN, executive director of Integrated Services, plans call for investing $2.5 million to refurbish the building to make it more energy efficient and attractive to a range of tenants. The company plans to lease the space to organizations and business that will provide healthcare to the community or contribute to the economic base of Nelsonville. Discussions with several prospective tenants are already underway.

Integrated Services also intends to locate their Regional Central Office and their other businesses, Integrated Community Enterprises and Health Priority Systems, into the new facility.

“As we planned and built the new OhioHealth Nelsonville Health Center, it was equally important for us to find a new purpose for the former hospital so that it would remain an asset for the community,” said Mark Seckinger, president of OhioHealth O’Bleness Hospital. “With the help of community leaders, we searched for someone with vision, an interested business or organization that could find a meaningful use for the space. That search ultimately led us to the folks at Integrated Services and the multi-purpose model they are planning and we are very excited about it.”

Gillespie indicated that there will be no residential housing in the facility. “Our plans are to lease the space to organizations that can provide healthcare to the community or businesses that will encourage new vitality for Nelsonville. We believe in the future of Nelsonville and we want partners who support that vision.”

“The opportunity to make use of this historic site is very exciting to us because we know that the reuse of former hospitals doesn’t happen very often,” said Jeffrey Mohrman, Managing Director of Integrated Community Enterprises, the development arm of Integrated Services. “The repurposed facility will complement the new OhioHealth Nelsonville Health Center and help ensure that the health needs of the community are met and contribute to the growth and economic development of Nelsonville.”

Integrated Services’ acquisition of the facility is expected to take place later in the fall.