POWELL — The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center is expanding its reach to Powell with the opening of its newest outpatient-care facility.
Outpatient Care Powell, located at 7171 Sawmill Parkway, officially opens Aug. 3, but is already accepting patients for several areas of care, which include:
- Advanced urgent care
- Behavioral health
- Endocrinology
- Endoscopy
- Gastroenterology and hepatology
- General and gastrointestinal surgery
- Heart and vascular and vascular surgery
- Lung care
- Nephrology
- Neurology and neurosurgery
- Optometry
- Orthopedics
- Outpatient rehabilitation
- Podiatry
- Rheumatology
- Sleep lab and sleep medicine
- Spine care
- Sports medicine
- Urology
It’s also the first OSU suburban outpatient care with cancer programs. Services from The James Cancer Hospital include clinical trials for several types of cancer.
“Cancer is becoming something that we can treat in our backyard, that we can treat with confidence and without disrupting our everyday life,” CEO of The James Cancer Hospital Kim Rathmell said.
Outpatient Care Powell officials welcomed OSU staff, local officials and others for a ribbon-cutting and sneak peak of the 200,000-square-foot facility Thursday before it officially opens Aug. 3.
The brand-new $183 million facility took two years to build and 10 years of discussions and coordination with Powell officials, specifically Vice Mayor Tom Counts who negotiated the development.
“Unlike many communities, competing for projects like this, Powell didn’t have a large package of financial incentives to offer,” Counts said.
“This facility reflects the kind of thoughtful growth that we strive for in Powell: investments that strengthen our community and make the lives of our residents easier and better.”
The Powell location is the third outpatient care facility, following the opening of the New Albany facility in 2021 and the Dublin facility in 2022.
“Our commitment to growing our outpatient care footprint is rooted in the idea that the best care occurs closer to where people live and where people work,” CEO of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and executive vice president at Ohio State John Warner said.
Warner said OSU saw four million outpatient visits across all medical centers, with 20% of those coming from the New Albany and Dublin care centers.
What’s in the facility
The five-story building is the new workplace for 300 employees, some of which are new to OSU, and others transferred from the other centers.
Senior Director of Capital Projects Garth Dahdah said there is room for that number to grow alongside growth in the number of patients.
A third of those staff members will work in the cancer departments.
The cancer wings
Cancer care will occur on the fourth and fifth floors. The fifth floor boasts 36 infusion rooms, screening and diagnostics, clinical trial rooms, a lab to test samples on-site and a pharmacy.
“We’re really trying to make sure that the throughput and the experience is comprehensive from initial diagnosis all the way up if they need chemotherapy, that they’ll be able to have that here as well,” an Outpatient Care staffer said.
Dahdah emphasized the lab on-site is also unique to the Powell location and allows for a quicker turnaround on getting results to patients.
Those floors are largely empty now because those wings will not be open until the end of September, Associate Executive Director of Clinical Services for The James Marie Webber said.
Webber also said Powell’s inclusion of cancer care will be the model for future outpatient care locations.
OSU is already eying a site in Violet Township for a center similar to Powell’s but with large surgery wings, Dahdah said.
The second floor
The second floor has standard procedure rooms for an undetermined use, endoscopy rooms, heart and vascular care, the six-bed overnight sleep lab, an optometry clinic, neurology, and behavioral health.
The sleep lab at OSU Outpatient East has 14 beds, but is undergoing renovations, making an already-long wait list longer.
Powell’s sleep lab aims to have a waiting list of three weeks or less.
The third floor is also empty now, but will eventually house obstetrics and gynecology and other medical specialities.
The first floor
The first floor houses outpatient rehabilitation, another pharmacy, orthopedics, podiatry, sports medicine, and the advanced urgent care.
Dahdah described the advanced urgent care as an urgent care that can do a lot of similar procedures to an emergency room; however, chest pains, trouble breathing and other life-threatening emergencies should be treated in the nearest emergency room.
Matt Jones, nurse manager for the advanced urgent care, said most of the staff have emergency medicine experience.
“We’re really excited to be here and bridge that gap between urgent care and emergency room at a much lower cost,” Jones said.
The sports medicine physical therapy and outpatient recovery area is a large, open area with equipment to help patients move better again. Equipment includes a driving simulator, treadmills, weight lifting and more.
The area has only 30% of equipment right now, with the rest shipping in next week.
