Ribbon cut on VW Health North facility

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Van Wert Health staff, physicians, board members, and business and government leaders got the chance to see the inside of the local hospital’s $12.5-million Van Wert Health North facility during a ribboncutting and tour opportunity on Thursday.

Tim Jurczyk, chairman of the hospital’s Board of Trustees, put it simply:

“Van Wert North not long ago was just an idea, now it is reality,” he said, adding, “Van Wert Health North will be another jewel in the crown of Van Wert County.”

Van Wert Health President/CEO Jim Pope thanked all those who participated in the project, including staff and board members who were involved in the project from the time it was conceived nearly 1½ years ago.

“Something like this just doesn’t happen,” Pope noted, “it takes a lot of thinking and a lot of forethought.”

The 29,000-square-foot facility is the culmination of that process, he noted. The walk-in clinic portion of the facility will provide care for patients who have non-emergency illnesses and injuries that they would normally see a private-care physician for, such as sports and camp physicals, colds, acute headaches (without a head injury), eye and ear problems, dizziness and lightheadedness, sore throat and strep throat, asthma and COPD flare-ups, bronchitis and pneumonia, hay fever and mild allergic reactions, poison ivy and rashes, and minor injury, such as back pain, minor lacerations or bites, burns, acute sprains and strains, broken bones, and back pain.

The clinic will also provide tetanus vaccination, influenza and most pneumococcal immunizations, and birth control injections.

“Most of the things that you would go see your doctor for, you could come here for,” Pope said, adding that, while most people are able to see their family physician for the above problems, sometimes it’s not possible, while other people don’t have a primary care physician.

Another positive is that people with insurance would only have to pay their co-pay to see a doctor or nurse practitioner at the walk-in clinic.

In addition to the clinic, the facility has a state-of-the-art imaging department, including an advanced 1.2-tesla open MRI — which Pope called the best open MRI available — as well as x-ray and CT scanning equipment.

Pope said MRI scans at the new facility would cost just $600, much less than the $1,200-$1,500 normally charged of that type of scan.

“What we’re trying to do in this project that we developed here is this concept of trying to create an affordable place to come to get your health care,” the Van Wert Health CEO said, noting that, even for those with no insurance, the cash cost for treatment of minor illness or injury would be in the $83 to $120 range.

The facility will also include a laboratory for blood and other testing, as well as offices where specialists can see their patients, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and occupational health services, as well as an education room for staff training.

Pope said the facility has a total of 15 examination rooms, with a design that allows physicians and other staff to work in the inner portion of the building, while patient rooms are housed around that inner workspace, allowing staff to more easy work and patients to be protected from noise and other distractions. The exam rooms are big enough that a couple of family members can be with patients, while there is a stand-alone waiting room for those having imaging work done.

Pope noted that the hospital had first thought to rent a building in the Towne Center shopping center for an urgent care center similar to the hospital’s emergency room.

“But as we looked at urgent care, we said ‘we can do better than that’,” Pope said at the facility’s groundbreaking back in late July 2017. The facility was originally planned to be 19,000 square feet, but an additional 10,000-square-foot addition was added to accommodate future care options.

In addition to providing another patient care option, the facility also includes 20 new employees for the hospital.

In addition to hospital staff and board members, Dave Wirt, a staff member for U.S. Representative Bob Latta, presented an American flag that had flown over the U.S. Capitol building to Pope, something the hospital CEO said was appropriate on Flag Day; and State Representative Craig Riedel presented Pope with a resolution from the Ohio House of Representatives. Other government representatives who attended include Van Wert Mayor Jerry Mazur and City Council President Jon Tomlinson, County Commissioner Thad Lichtensteiger, Van Wert County Common Pleas Judge Martin Burchfield, and a representative of U.S. Senator Rob Portman.

Also attending was Van Wert Area Economic Development Executive Director Stacy Adam, Van Wert Area Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Susan Munroe, and representatives of the companies that provided construction and other services for the new building.

Pope said the clinic was just one aspect of Van Wert Health’s goal of being the best health provider in the area, with other projects to follow in the future.

Following Pope’s speech, everyone who attended toasted the new building and then moved outside for a ribboncutting ceremony.

The new facility, which officially opens Monday, June 25, will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. A public open house will be held on Sunday, June 24, from noon-3 p.m. to allow members of the public to view the facility, including work areas they wouldn’t see otherwise as a patient.

Van Wert Health staff, board members, and physicians, as well as local and state officials and Van Wert Area Chamber of Commerce board members pose for a ribboncutting ceremony in front of the Van Wert Health North facility.