Columbus, OH,
22
November
2017
|
14:00 PM
Europe/Amsterdam

Columbus Dispatch: ‘Microhospitals’ could add to mix of health-care offerings in central Ohio

A new trend is making its way to central Ohio. Small hospitals, that some are calling “microhospitals”, are being built in and around Columbus. According to John Palmer, spokesman for the Ohio Hospital Association, these small-scale hospitals tend to have eight to 10 inpatient beds and core services including pharmacies, outpatient services, labs, emergency care and imaging. They are being placed in communities that may not have the need for an entire full-scale facility.

Microhospitals are joining other trends in the health industry, such as free-standing emergency departments, urgent care centers and other specialized hospitals.

OhioHealth is on track with the trends. A smaller sized hospital is being built in Grove City, called the OhioHealth Grove City Methodist Hospital. Expected to open late 2018, the 26-bed, three-story facility is part of a project that includes an ambulatory surgery center, an emergency department and a medical office building.

Despite its smaller size, OhioHealth does not consider Grove City Methodist Hospital a microhospital. Dr. Kevin Lutz, chief operating officer of Grove City Methodist Hospital, told Columbus Dispatch reporter JoAnne Viviano that one reason nonprofit OhioHealth does not use the term is because microhospitals tend to be connected to for-profit medicine.

Lutz says the new site is similar to OhioHealth Dublin Methodist Hospital and will offer surgical services. It can better be described as a “community hospital.”

“We’ve assessed the needs of the community, and we’ve built the right-sized medical facility to support the needs,” Lutz told Viviano. “This allows us to provide and to spread out and deliver the same high-quality care in a community that these patients would receive if they came to a larger, more traditional hospital.”

He also said that the scaled-down size allows the health system to deliver hospital-based care in a smaller setting, which will operate more efficiently.

To learn more about OhioHealth Grove City Methodist Hospital, click here.