DELAWARE — The Ohio Attorney General has remained publicly silent on the topic of OhioHealth plans to close Grady Memorial Hospital’s inpatient maternity unit.
That silence comes despite local efforts to get the state’s law enforcement involved.
Delaware City Council has called on AG Andy Wilson’s office to enforce the 2005 affiliation agreement that brought Grady into the OhioHealth system.
A former Grady attorney sent the AG an eight-page legal analysis regarding the agreement.
Former members of the Healthcare Foundation of Delaware County asked the office to investigate.
Delaware Source has repeatedly asked the AG’s office to clarify whether it believes it has any role in reviewing or enforcing the agreement.
Yet with Grady’s inpatient maternity unit scheduled to close Friday, neither Wilson nor anyone in his office has publicly answered those questions or concerns.
Opponents of the closure have argued the dispute is no longer only about maternity care — it is about whether OhioHealth remains bound by commitments made when it assumed control of a community hospital.
The unresolved question is who, if anyone, has the authority to enforce those commitments since the nonprofit foundation created to oversee the agreement dissolved in 2021.
OhioHealth has said it has the legal authority to close Grady’s inpatient maternity unit.
And with the closure date approaching, Delaware County still does not have a public answer from the office repeatedly asked to intervene.
Timeline: How the Ohio Attorney General became part of the Grady closure debate
June 10: OhioHealth announces it will discontinue inpatient maternity services at Grady Memorial Hospital effective July 31, citing declining delivery volume and families already choosing larger hospitals for labor and delivery.
June 22: Delaware City Council unanimously approves an emergency resolution asking OhioHealth to halt the closure and calling on the Ohio Attorney General’s Office to enforce the 2005 affiliation agreement.
June 22: Delaware Source asks the Attorney General’s Office whether it has oversight or enforcement authority related to the agreement.
June 23: The Attorney General’s Office says it is reviewing City Council’s resolution and will “respond appropriately.”
June 25: The office says it continues to review the resolution and has nothing new to share.
June 26: Delaware Source reports that the 2005 affiliation agreement assigns enforcement responsibility to the Healthcare Foundation of Delaware County, which dissolved in 2021.
July 6: Delaware Source files a public records request seeking records related to the foundation’s dissolution, the affiliation agreement and the Attorney General’s possible authority.
July 7: Councilwoman Linsey Griffith says the city has received only a “receipt of complaint” notice from the Attorney General’s Office.
July 8: Former Grady attorney Jonathan Lewis sends an eight-page legal analysis to the Attorney General’s Office disputing OhioHealth’s interpretation of the agreement.
July 9: The Ohio Nurses Association renews its call for the Attorney General to investigate during a community rally opposing the closure. Councilwoman Linsey Griffith said she remained hopeful the office would review the agreement, and Ohio gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton said she believed Attorney General Andy Wilson would be “looking at this issue.”
July 10: Former Grady medical staff president Dr. Thomas Hubbell and former Healthcare Foundation members ask the Attorney General to investigate.
July 27: Delaware Source follows up with the Attorney General’s Office seeking a timeline for production of the public records request. As of publication, the office had not responded to that follow-up.
What does the affiliation agreement say?
The Attorney General’s Office has been repeatedly asked to review or enforce the 2005 affiliation agreement signed when Grady Memorial Hospital became part of OhioHealth.
That agreement states OhioHealth will maintain and operate an acute care hospital within the city of Delaware. It also identifies a list of “Core Hospital Services” that were being provided at Grady when the agreement was signed.
Those services include obstetrics, emergency services, oncology, medical imaging, cardiology services, intensive care/coronary care, rehabilitation, laboratory and surgical services.
The agreement says those services are to be maintained “in the same manner and subject to adequate demand” as they existed when the agreement was signed. That phrase has become central to the dispute.
OhioHealth claims legal right to close maternity ward
OhioHealth officials have maintained that it has the legal authority to close Grady Memorial Hospital’s inpatient maternity unit.
The health system has said the decision followed a review of the inpatient maternity program and reflects declining obstetric volumes nationally and locally.
OhioHealth said fewer than 10% of babies born within the OhioHealth system to Delaware County families during the previous fiscal year were delivered at Grady. It also said many families were already choosing Dublin Methodist Hospital and Riverside Methodist Hospital for delivery care.
OhioHealth also noted those hospitals offer 24/7 on-site obstetric provider availability and higher-level newborn care through Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
When Delaware Source asked whether the closure complies with the 2005 agreement, OhioHealth said it “has the legal authority to close the inpatient maternity unit at Grady” and said the issue was brought to and approved by the board.
The agreement assigns enforcement responsibility to the Healthcare Foundation of Delaware County. OhioHealth said the foundation dissolved in 2021.
OhioHealth told Delaware Source it believes the agreement is “no longer” because the foundation dissolved, but said it continues to honor the “spirit of the agreement” by delivering services the community needs.
Former general counsel for Grady says OhioHealth is wrong
Jonathan Lewis, who served as Grady Memorial Hospital’s legal counsel from 1985 to 2005 and was involved in negotiations that led to the OhioHealth affiliation, disputes OhioHealth’s interpretation of the agreement.
Lewis sent an eight-page legal analysis to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office arguing OhioHealth is misinterpreting the agreement.
He argues the agreement was designed to ensure Grady would continue to grow and maintain core services as healthcare changed.
Lewis also disputes OhioHealth’s claim that the agreement is “no longer” because the Healthcare Foundation of Delaware County dissolved in 2021.
In Lewis’ view, the agreement remains enforceable even though the foundation no longer exists. He has argued the question should now be reviewed by the Attorney General’s Office because it involves charitable assets, a community hospital and the public interest.
Lewis said he received confirmation from the chief of the Attorney General’s Charitable Law Section that his analysis had been received.
What is the role of the Healthcare Foundation?
The Healthcare Foundation of Delaware County is central to the unresolved enforcement question.
Former Grady medical staff president Dr. Thomas Hubbell told Delaware Source the Healthcare Foundation was created to ensure OhioHealth complied with the affiliation agreement.
Hubbell confirmed the foundation dissolved in 2021 because OhioHealth appeared to be properly upholding the agreement.
That creates a key unanswered question: If the foundation was responsible for enforcing the agreement, what happened to that authority when the foundation dissolved?
Delaware Source filed a public records request with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office on July 6 seeking records related to the Healthcare Foundation of Delaware County, its 2021 dissolution and the 2005 affiliation agreement involving Grady Memorial Hospital and OhioHealth.
The office acknowledged receiving the records request, but has not provided the requested records as of publication.
Hubbell, along with former foundation members Ralph Hodges and Craig Wanner, also sent a letter to the Attorney General requesting the office investigate whether OhioHealth is honoring the commitments it made when it assumed control of Grady.
Here is what Delaware Source asked the AG:
Delaware Source first contacted the Ohio Attorney General’s Office on June 22, after Delaware City Council identified the office as a possible authority for enforcing the 2005 affiliation agreement.
Delaware Source asked whether the Attorney General’s Office has oversight or enforcement authority related to the agreement; whether it had received complaints, inquiries or comments about the planned closure; whether it had been consulted or involved in the matter; whether it would review or enforce the agreement if compliance questions arose; and whether it could comment on whether the closure is consistent with the agreement.
The Attorney General’s Office responded June 23 that it was reviewing Delaware City Council’s resolution and would “respond appropriately.” Two days later, the office said it continued to review the resolution and had nothing new to share.
Delaware Source later asked the Attorney General’s Office to respond to Lewis’ legal analysis, clarify whether it believes the 2005 agreement remains enforceable and explain whether it believes it has authority to enforce the agreement following the dissolution of the Healthcare Foundation.
The office did not respond to those requests.
Delaware Source filed a public records request with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office on July 6 seeking records related to the Healthcare Foundation of Delaware County, its 2021 dissolution and the 2005 affiliation agreement involving Grady Memorial Hospital and OhioHealth.
Delaware Source also requested records created or received after June 22 concerning the 2005 affiliation agreement, Delaware City Council’s emergency resolution, the Healthcare Foundation’s role in the agreement, whether the agreement remains enforceable and whether the Attorney General has authority to enforce it.
The office acknowledged receiving the records request. Delaware Source followed up July 27 asking for an estimated production timeline.
As of publication, the office had not responded to that follow-up.
