NORTH SIDE Select Specialty plans to build hospital near St. E's

The mental health board's drop-in center is a linchpin to building the hospital.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Select Specialty Hospital, a long-term care facility located in St. Elizabeth Health Center, wants to buy an entire city block on the city's near North Side to build a stand-alone hospital.
The block is bounded on the west by Belmont Avenue, directly across from St. Elizabeth's front door, on the north by Caroline Avenue, on the east by Fifth Avenue and on the south by the access road to the U.S. Route 422 bypass.
William George, director of provider relations for Select Specialty, confirmed the project is in the works but said he is not permitted to discuss details about the size and cost of the hospital.
George described the project as "a huge investment" for the corporation.
He said the project is also "exciting for the city itself," noting it would be the first in-patient hospital built within the city limits in decades.
An enhancement
Also, George said, the new hospital would enhance two other nearby health-care campuses -- St. Elizabeth's and Park Vista Eldercare and Retirement Center -- and provide another strong neighborhood partner close to Youngstown State University.
Although George is not permitted by his company to reveal details about the project, Ron Marian, executive director of the Mahoning County Mental Health Board, provided additional information.
Marian and the Mental Health Board are involved because the board's New Outlook Drop-In Center for mentally ill patients is at 858 Fifth Ave., in the block where Select Specialty plans to build.
At last week's Mental Health Board meeting, Marian said Select Specialty has options on all the parcels in the designated block except the one occupied by the drop-in center.
Marian said the board is willing to move the drop-in center as soon as an alternative site can be found.
The mental health board rejected a site suggested by Select Specialty, the former Gateways to Better Living Home at 1406 Fifth, because the board's architect said it would be too costly, an estimated $350,000, to renovate.
Vacant library
However, the mental health board is negotiating to buy the vacant Northside Branch of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, at 1344 Fifth Ave.
Marian said the former library building, built in 1965, has 6,400 square feet of space and, based on initial inspection, would be ideal for the drop-in center.
The building appears to have been well-kept, said Joseph Gorman, administrative director for the mental health board. The library building is on three acres and has ample parking, officials said.
Marian said he and Carlton Sears, director of the public library, have done preliminary negotiating. The next step is for the library to obtain an appraisal of the building's value, Marian said.
Renovation funds
The mental health board has $200,000 to spend on renovation -- a $100,000 Ohio Department of Mental Health grant, previously earmarked to renovate the current drop-in center, and $100,000 pledged by the board, Gorman said.
Besides the mental health drop-in center, the 31/2-acre block Select Specialty wants to buy has 11 parcels. It contains a parking lot for Stambaugh Auditorium, apartment buildings and homes.
Select Specialty must move out of the hospital by 2007 because of new Medicare regulations that require that long-term acute care facilities be at least 250 yards from short-term acute care hospitals under certain conditions.
George explained that in 2004, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services established new regulations that govern the degree of separation between long-term and short-term acute care hospitals.
Limited admissions
The CMS approach to ensure separateness was to limit the amount of admissions that a hospital within a hospital can take from the host hospital.
"In order for us to serve the populations at St. Elizabeth that need our services, we need to move out of St. Elizabeth," he said.
The requirement would meet the CMS requirement of 250 yards distance and still leave Select Specialty in close proximity to St. Elizabeth's.
Select Specialty has 31 beds and a staff of about 110, George said.
Its patients are those who have left the short-term acute care facility, such as St. Elizabeth's or Northside Medical Center, but are too sick to go to a lower level of care. Patients average 25 days or longer at Select Specialty, George said.
alcorn@vindy.com