Kingsdale facility to open in stages

Posted on June 23, 2016

Written by: Nate Ellis

Published by: This Week News


The public will have a chance this weekend to get a first look at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center’s 104,000-square-foot outpatient care facility.

OSU Wexner Medical Center officials will host an open house for Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Outpatient Care Upper Arlington from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, June 25.

The event will mark the first time members of the community can tour the new, five-floor outpatient care center at 1800 Zollinger Road in the Kingsdale Center.

From there, the center will open in stages, with a variety of services being available from July 5 to Aug. 8, when it’s expected to be fully operational.

“It’s a staggered start,” said Dan Like, executive director of ambulatory services for OSU Wexner Medical Center. “The first and second floors will open July 11.

“Then we basically move up the building. By Aug. 8, all services will be open except for optometry and dentistry.”

Ground was broken for Outpatient Care UA on June 23, 2015 — almost exactly one year prior to this weekend’s open house.

At that time, OSU Wexner officials said they hoped to open the center by this August.

The roughly $18 million project initially is expected to employ about 150 full-time staff members and specialists, with an annual payroll of $16 million.

It also will offer a wide range of services, Like and Outpatient Care UA Building Director John Ridgway said.

Those will include:

  • Behavioral health, opens Aug. 8.
  • General and colorectal surgery, opens July 18.
  • Heart and vascular care, opens July 18.
  • Imaging and radiology, opens July 11.
  • Internal medicine specialists, opens July 18.
  • Laboratory services, opens July 11.
  • Primary care, opens Aug. 8.
  • Women’s health, opens Aug. 8.
  • Dental and optometry services are expected to be offered in 2017.

“This is our most comprehensive center,” Like said. “To have optometry and dentistry here, as well as all our other, traditional services … is special because it’s all part of the Ohio State University.

“To have all those services under one roof is new for us, even from an outpatient standpoint. There’s very little we can’t do here to keep people well.”

The center is expected to serve surrounding communities such as Columbus and Grandview Heights.

The facility’s connection to Upper Arlington is deeper than its geographic locale. Ridgway, who will oversee the center, strategic operations and community outreach initiatives, is an Upper Arlington resident, as are as many as 30 physicians who will work there.

“There’s a real UA connection,” Like said. “I think that makes a difference.

“People take real pride in that connection to the community.”

Upper Arlington city officials also are eager for the addition, noting it will provide convenient access to vital medical care for residents, and tax revenue for municipal operations.

“This project is a win for the community on many levels,” said Emma Speight, Upper Arlington community affairs director. “It represents the fulfillment of a long-held goal for a significant professional/medical office use at Kingsdale, rounding out the mix of uses now in place within this thriving commercial district.

“Our residents stand to benefit from having easy access to a wealth of first-class medical services, and the Kingsdale shops and restaurants will benefit from an increase in patronage from patients as well as the 155-plus OSU employees who will now be onsite.

“Last but not least,” Speight added, “the new income tax revenues that will be generated will be a significant boost to the city’s operating budget and toward funding our 10-year capital improvement program.”