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Ryan: Children’s hospital will further Valley tech belt
Photo
Congressman Tim Ryan
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN — Completion of Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley in December will be another important link in the creation of a technology belt between Pittsburgh and Cleveland, said U.S. Rep. Timothy Ryan.
Renovation is under way in the former Beeghly Medical Center’s Women’s and Infant’s Pavilion, the site of Akron Children’s Mahoning Valley, which is expected to accept its first patients before the end of 2008.
Speaking Thursday at the official kick-off of the $10 million renovation project, Ryan D-17th, said health care is the centerpiece of the technology belt envisioned by him and other area elected officials and business and community leaders.
This is a great day in the Mahoning Valley, he said.
Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley is a joint venture between Akron Children’s Hospital of Akron and Humility of Mary Health Partners.
HMHP is a health care system which has three other hospitals: St. Elizabeth Health Centers in Youngstown and Boardman and St. Joseph Health Center in Warren.
Akron Children’s and HMHP paid Forum Health $26 million for the former Beeghly Medical Center as well as some properties along Ferncliff Avenue, said Mark Watson, Akron Children’s chief operating officer.
Watson also said the hospital hopes to have an announcement in a couple of weeks about establishing a new Ronald McDonald House on Ferncliff. He said discussions are under way with Herb Washington, a local businessman who operates McDonald’s Restaurants.
Ronald McDonald House Charities provides a home away from home for families and their seriously ill or injured children who travel far to receive treatment. The Ronald McDonald House near Tod Children’s was closed when Tod closed on June 30, 2007.
The relationship between Akron Children’s and HMHP began in 2003 when HMHP identified a weakness in its pediatric care at St. Elizabeth in Youngstown and asked the Akron hospital to come to the valley, said Robert Shroder, president and chief executive of HMHP.
The relationship, formalized in 2005 and culminating with creation of Akron Children’s Mahoning, has enhanced pediatric care in the valley, Shroder said Thursday’s event represents an “historic day in the Mahoning Valley,” he said.
Akron Children’s Mahoning will employ about 300, some 100 of which are new jobs, said Shawn Lyden, executive vice president and legal counsel for Akron Children’s.
Lyden said that 12 percent of Akron Children’s 3,800 employees are Mahoning Valley residents.
He said the philosophy of Akron Children’s is to treat every child “as if he were our own,” treat everyone “as we’d like to be treated,” and to turn no child away because of inability to pay.
Akron Children’s Mahoning will have 32 private in-patient rooms, with space for parents to spend the night; a pediatric emergency department operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week; an outpatient hematology/oncology clinic and infusion center; inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation services; inpatient pharmacy service, radiology, full-service laboratory, and transport services including the a pediatric-specific helicopter.
The new facility will be staffed and equipped to provide general pediatric medical care. Patients requiring surgery or other highly specialized care will continue to be treated at Akron Children’s main campus in Akron or at St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown, officials said.
Architects for the project are Hasenstab Architects of Akron and Strollo Architects of Youngstown. The general contractor is Welty Building Co. of Fairlawn, Ohio, but the subcontractors are local businesses. Construction employment is 180 people and involves 57 contractors, officials said.
William Considine, president and chief executive officer of Akron Children’s, was unable to attend Thursday’s event because of a family emergency.
However, in a prepared statement he said: “We’ve long been committed to the Mahoning Valley. While the hospital carried the Akron Children’s name, it is truly the Mahoning Valley’s hospital.”
alcorn@vindy.com