“We have been seeing more and more patients coming to our other facilities, and in our interactions with physicians and patients, we felt the call to come here to Springfield and bring care closer to home,” said Ervin Gruia, the director of strategy and operations for Kettering Health Springfield.
The new facility, which had a ribbon cutting on Friday and saw local elected leaders and other officials tour its patient rooms, is the third Kettering Health property to open in Springfield since the health network established a presence in the area in 2017.
An open house, lasting from 2 to 4 p.m., will also be held at the new site located at 2300 N. Limestone St., on Sunday and will be open to the general public.
The new facility is expected to allow the health network to expand its patient care services in the greater Springfield area and make it so local patients don’t have to travel out of town to receive that care.
Named the Kettering Health Springfield medical center, the 42,000 square foot building that was a Kroger grocery store until three years ago, is Kettering’s largest investment in the Springfield area to date.
The new location features examination rooms and offices for outpatient and specialist care. In addition, the facility will have a 24-hour fully functioning emergency department with 14 emergency beds and accommodations for trauma care and behavioral health.
The space also includes imaging, lab services and office space for outpatient primary care and other similar service such as cardiology. In-patient care will be provided through the emergency center located at the new facility. Those type of services will include a variety of emergency physicians and other specialist who will either be present at the facility or supporting in-person staff and patients remotely.
Services related to breast health are expected to be up and running out of the Springfield medical center by the end of the year.
Though Kettering Health has had two other facilities in the area for several years, the new medical center plans on augmenting those existing services with more acute care, said Gruia.
The new facility will also serve as an extension of sorts of Kettering Health’s Soin Medical Center in Beavercreek that sees quite a few patients from Clark County and the surrounding areas, Gruia added.
“It makes it easier for patients who don’t want to travel if they don’t have to. They can be served right here closer to home,” Gruia said.
In terms of emergency services, patients can be transferred to other Kettering Health facilities in the region depending on the level of care needed, representatives of the health network said.
“We have built into this the capacity to transfer patients that need more acute care to higher level facilities,” Gruia added.
Kettering Health Springfield represents the latest endeavor in Clark County for the health network that already has a large presence in the Dayton area.
Since entering the Springfield market in 2017, Kettering Health has expanded its services and physicians network in the area. Those services include specialties such as cardiology, women services, physical therapy and orthopedics. Now, it will offer emergency care.
The health network’s two other locations in Springfield include the Kettering Health Springfield Health Center on Emmanuel Way that opened in April 2018 and Kettering Physician Network Springfield Center Primary Care on Middle Urbana Road.
Kettering Health purchased the building for its latest Springfield facility shortly after the Kroger that previously occupied it closed in 2019.
The new facility has also resulted in the creation of 70 new positions, with most being filled at this point. Those positions include ones related to nursing, imaging techs, respiratory therapist, physicians and advanced practice providers.
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