As Mercy Health prepares to cut the ribbon Tuesday on a new $270 million hospital that’s to open Nov. 10 in Green Township, the health system is looking to sell its hospitals in Mount Airy and Westwood so it can consolidate medical care on the West Side of Cincinnati. It’s gotten nibbles from potential buyers for both locations.
“Those have been up for sale, (and) there are separate parties interested in both facilities,” Mercy Health spokeswoman Nanette Bentley told me Monday.
The West Hospital will have 1,050 full-time employees, and that could include some who transfer from the other two hospitals, Bentley said.
While the Western Hills Hospital will close some operations in Westwood, a 24-hour emergency department will remain open, along with a health and fitness center as well as a medical office building, Bentley said.
Want to publish your own articles on DistilINFO Publications?
Send us an email, we will get in touch with you.
“Mount Airy will, I believe, close completely, pending decisions by these parties who are interested” in buying the hospital, Bentley said. “What will remain open there is the medical office building.”
Hamilton County is considering buying the Mount Airy building to house its crime lab and some operations of the sheriff’s department, but county commissioners reportedly oppose raising the local sales tax to cover the $66 million conversion.
Coroner Lakshmi Kode Sammarco couldn’t be reached to discuss housing the crime lab at the hospital, but I was told the proposal is on hold as she explores alternative ways to finance such a deal, including private funding. The coroner plans to meet with public officials and people in the private sector over the next week to talk about the project and how to fund it.
Date: Oct 14, 2013