Medical Center predicted to become economic driver
$195M Hospital set for December opening

Premium content from Dayton Business Journal by Tracy Kershaw-Staley, DBJ Staff Reporter
Date: Monday, November 26, 2007, 12:00am EST - Last Modified: Tuesday, November 20, 2007, 11:10am EST

    Doug McNeill envisions the $195 million Atrium Medical Center as a health hub for all of southwest Ohio.
    And he's also optimistic that the 250-bed Middletown hospital, set to open Dec. 9, will be an economic driver for years to come, not only for Middletown but the entire area.
    "The future is not going to be divided by municipal boundaries but by regions," McNeill said.
    The impact on Middletown is already showing, with new home and office developments nearby. And with Atrium being one of the three hospitals in the Dayton-based Premier Health Partners network, the chances for the economic impact to trickle north to Dayton is strong, said Premier Chief Executive Officer Tom Breitenbach. The campus is located in what is turning into a competitive health care spine linking Dayton and Cincinnati. Numerous high-profile medical projects are underway between Interstates 275 and 675, as Cincinnati and Dayton providers try to win the allegiance -- and dollars -- of the rapidly growing population calling that portion of southwest Ohio home.
    In Breitenbach's opinion, having the new Atrium project as part of Premier was vital to Dayton planting its flag in corridor.
    "Middletown people have always had a Cincinnati orientation," Breitenbach said.
    But Breitenbach and others hope to change that with Atrium -- and bring more Warren and Butler county residents into the Dayton area.
    The first new hospital in southwest Ohio in 35 years, Atrium replaces the aging, landlocked Middletown Regional Hospital    Middletown Regional Hospital Latest from The Business Journals Butler, Warren hospitals poised to continue growthIn Butler, Warren counties, hospitals poised to continue growthMcNeill’s philosophy: Adapt or go extinct Follow this company in a new, more visible location a quarter-mile from Interstate 75. Atrium is the centerpiece to what will be a 190-acre health care campus set to include a Children's Medical Center of Dayton outpatient center, a YMCA    YMCA Latest from The Business Journals Amherst IDA signs off on financing of new 'Y'The next Martha White generationNew on-site YMCA corporate wellness program targets diabetes prevention Follow this company , an Otterbein Homes senior living development.
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    The Children's center, which will have about 15 different specialists, is likely to funnel business back to the Dayton hospital. It also creates more opportunities for Dayton-based specialists to see patients from the southern part of the region. And as Cincinnati Children's builds its own outpatient center less than 10 miles south of Middletown, the hunt for pediatric business in Warren and Butler counties is more competitive.
    "The speciality care center will serve patients in that market and act as a feeder to Dayton Children's," said Matt Graybill, vice president for alternative site services at Dayton Children's.
    About 10 percent to 15 percent of Dayton Children's patient volume originates from the south, he said. And that's just expected to continue to grow.
    "Clearly, if we chose to just sit here on Valley Street and not extend ourselves to our community, people would go elsewhere based on access and convenience," Graybill said.
    Miami Valley Hospital could get an increase of trauma patients from the hospital, McNeill said. Since both hospitals are part of Premier, patients that need a higher level of trauma care are most likely to be helicoptered to Miami Valley, which has a top-level trauma program, instead of a Cincinnati hospital, unless the patient requests otherwise.

Open heart surgeries, which also tend to go to Cincinnati hospitals, will now be able to be done at Atrium -- and by Dayton-based surgeons.
    Breitenbach said Dayton vendors will also get a first option on supplying Atrium and some of the corporate jobs at the Premier's downtown headquarters exist to support Atrium.
    "There's all kinds of economic spin-offs," he said.
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    If the hospital's impact will be felt in Dayton, it certainly will be in Middletown. Renaissance, a 300-acre master planned community, is taking shape to include housing and office space just across from the hospital. About 60 of the 200-plus single family lots are already occupied, and the office and commercial development is progressing, said Andrew Vecellio, a partner in the development with his father-in-law Allen Zaring.
    Vecellio said he has a verbal commitment from a medical-related user for 10,000 square feet of the 45,000 square feet of office condo space.
    He's also been drawing interest from chiropractors, hotel developers, restaurants and others, he said.
    Vecellio said he expects the housing to pick up, despite the overall real estate slump.
    "By and large, single family housing starts are directly tied to jobs," he said. "When you've got 1,500 jobs coming across the street on Dec. 9, you've got to assume there will be demand for new houses."
    McNeill said he expects more developers to invest in the area, especially suppliers and vendors of health care services. The physician office building attached to the hospital is already 100 percent leased, which could create more demand for medical office development nearby.
    Starting out with 2,000 jobs, Atrium is expected to employ 3,000 in about five years, McNeill said. The medical staff could grow as well. Physicians from both Dayton and Cincinnati who aren't affiliated with hospital attended a recent physician tour, he said.
    "We're the second largest employer in Middletown," McNeill said. "It's not a stretch to say someday we'll be the biggest."
    For the city of Middletown, growth in the hospital's employment is vital. The largest employer -- AK Steel Corp. has been shedding jobs over the past few years.
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    The hospital itself is expected to grow as demand increases. McNeill calls the new facility the "chassis of a 500-bed hospital," with room to expand on all sides.
    The old hospital campus, located about three miles away on McKnight Drive, is for now expected to be razed and replaced by housing development.
    McNeill said, "I think economically, everyone wins."