The five-story tower adds about 170,000 square feet to the Beavercreek hospital and is the largest current health care construction project in the Dayton area.
At a tour of the new space Wednesday, Rick Dodds, president of Soin Medical Center and Greene Memorial Hospital, said the expansion gives extra space for both traditional medical care patients and COVID-19 patients that require a longer length of stay.
“It’s providential. When we were planning this two years ago, I don’t think we could have guessed we would need this additional space and it’s beneficial that we’re moving forward with this as a community,” Dodds said.
Dodds said it also adds about 50 jobs at Soin, which now employs about 900 at the main campus and is a major employer in Greene County.
The new area that opens Tuesday to the public will have five additional ICU beds and a new intermediate care unit with 12 beds. The hospital expansion will also have three additional operating rooms and 10 additional surgery prep and recovery beds.
“We’re adding additional operating rooms to ensure that the community is well serviced for an access to care standpoint,” Dodds said.
When the expansion broke ground, Soin had about 157 beds.
The new tower also has unused space that leaves room for more expansion.
“As we continue to look at the future in mind, we continue to expand based upon community’s needs,” Dodds said.
The project, led by Danis Construction, broke ground two years ago. Dodds said COVID-19 slightly slowed down the construction, but it was less than a four week delay. He said the challenge has been mainly with supplies and building materials.
Dodds said the new tower also incorporates some new technology. In one example, he showed how instead of boards outside of room doors, they have digital signage.
The hospital opened in 2012 and has regularly expanded since, doubling the ER in 2015, building out the fifth floor in 2016 and in 2017 expanding the infusion center and clinical exam rooms.
This spring, Kettering Health Network closed the ICU at its other hospital in Greene County, Greene Memorial Hospital in Xenia, as well as let its Level 3 trauma expire and closed its operating rooms. The hospital is supported by two county levies and Kettering Health faced criticism from some public officials and residents for the discontinued services, saying the health system wasn’t living up to the expectations of the levy, while Kettering Health maintains that it is meeting the levy expectations and continues to provide quality hospital care.
Dodds said the Greene Memorial ICU had an average census of less than two patients. With the Soin Medical Center, he said Kettering Health will have more capacity to care for more patients in Greene County.
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“So it was important for us that as we continue to expand overall, we continue to look at ways -- particularly in this time -- to efficiently and proactively look at how we expand care in Greene County. This will be significantly expanded care for Greene County,” Dodds said.
The additional services will mean additional revenue at the hospital. Soin Medical Center in 2016 had $126 million in net patient revenue and ended the year on a 0.4 percent margin, according to the Ohio Health Market Review, which analyzes federal health care data.
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