Anyone who has experienced a medical emergency knows that every second counts – the sooner care comes, the better the chances for a full recovery.
Currently, the closest emergency room for most Dublin residents is OhioHealth Dublin Methodist Hospital and Emergency Department. Dublin Methodist is known for providing high-quality care, but for residents on the east side of town near Scioto, it can sometimes be a 10 to 15-minute drive, or longer, to get there.
Thankfully, this side of town will soon receive a new facility closer to home. Expected to open in 2025, Mount Carmel plans to add another hospital to its central Ohio-based health care system, located right off of the I-270 outerbelt’s Sawmill Road exit. This location will potentially support 260,000 people in the primary service area alone.
Planning for this new hospital began in 2021. Meg Peugh, director of business development at Mount Carmel, says the location was picked intentionally due to the needs of patients in the area.
“We think that there’s adequate care offered in other parts of the Dublin community, but this is on the far east side and borders Columbus right there at Sawmill Road, and so we think that we’ll be able to provide the most needed care at that location,” she says.
The close-to-home location isn’t the hospital’s only benefit to residents in the area seeking care. In the new location, patients will have access to surgeries, imaging, diagnostic care and more all in the same building. This facility will not only house an emergency department and inpatient
beds, but an outpatient lab as well as primary and specialty care offices.
Peugh believes it’s important to offer an array of services to patients in a location that is close to home.
“We believe that having both inpatient and outpatient is the best approach to be able to provide that comprehensive level of care,” she says.
On the other side of the river, The Ohio State University’s Outpatient Care Facility offers over 20 specialty care offices such as urgent care, gynecology, mental health, dermatology, orthopedics and more. Kyle Steinbauer, director of operations at the Dublin facility, agrees that housing multiple care specialties and doctors allows for more efficient care for patients.
“Instead of sending messages or referrals between departments, many providers simply walk down the hall,” he says.
Like the new Mount Carmel hospital and Ohio State’s Care Facility, Dublin Methodist also offers outpatient services such as dermatology, urology and pulmonary care.
The Ohio State facility is fairly new and has only been open for a year, but Dublin Methodist has been treating Dublin residents for 15 years, opening in 2008 as the city’s first hospital according to Dublin Methodist President Armin Rahmanian.
Even though it is the oldest hospital in the city, Dublin Methodist is far from outdated. The hospital expanded both in 2012 and 2019 to keep up with the city’s growing population. In summer 2023, the hospital also introduced additional operating rooms.
In the near future, Dublin Methodist plans to add a trauma unit. Currently, the closest hospital with a trauma unit is Riverside Methodist. It is roughly 20-30 minutes or more away for most Dublin residents.
All of these care facilities have partnered with the city and have one goal in mind: serving Dublin residents by meeting their health needs.
“Being the first hospital and the only hospital in Dublin, we started our relationship with the city very early on,” Rahmanian says. “Leadership is developing a report that talks about the health needs of our community, and we were invited to participate in that and analyze the data and help the city understand how we can play a role in improving the health of our community.”
Maisie Fitzmaurice is an assistant editor at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at mfitzmaurice@cityscenemediagroup.com.
