Akron Children’s Hospital expands outpatient surgery services in eastern Ohio

Akron Children’s Hospital is investing $7 million to bring outpatient surgery services to the Youngstown-Warren area.

The pediatric hospital recently started construction and renovation of a 14,000-square-foot surgery department on the Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley campus in the Youngstown suburb of Boardman.

When the unit opens in October, it will be the only dedicated pediatric surgery department in the Youngstown-Warren area.

The opening also will mark the first time Akron Children’s has offered surgical procedures outside its main campus in downtown Akron.

”It really keeps with Akron Children’s philosophy that whenever possible we want to deliver care as close to home as possible for the patient,” said Mark Watson, president of Akron Children’s Hospital regional network.

Akron Children’s opened its Mahoning Valley location in 2008 after transforming the former Beeghly Medical Park into a full-service pediatric hospital.

The Youngstown-Warren region had been without a pediatric hospital since 2007, when the former Tod Children’s Hospital closed.

Akron Children’s anticipates breaking even on its initial $42 million investment in the Mahoning Valley campus by later this year, Watson said. When referrals to the main campus are included in the equation, the venture already is profitable.

About 1,800 to 2,000 children from the Youngstown-Warren area and Western Pennsylvania are expected to undergo procedures in the new unit during the first year, Watson said.

More complicated procedures that require hospital stays, such as open-heart surgeries, still will be performed in Akron.

The Akron campus averages 13,000 surgeries annually, Watson said. About 80 percent of pediatric surgeries are done on an outpatient basis.

The addition of three operating rooms in Boardman should help Akron Children’s meet the growing demand for pediatric procedures in its service area, which spans Eastern Ohio and into Western Pennsylvania, he said.

The new unit is expected to employ about 40 people, adding to the 400 Akron Children’s employees already working in the Mahoning Valley region.

Akron Children’s is among Summit County’s largest employers, with more than 4,000 employees.

The hospital is funding the Mahoning Valley project with existing capital dollars and philanthropic support.

The upcoming launch of surgical service in the Youngstown-Warren area is the latest step by Children’s to expand its regional footprint.

The pediatric hospital offers specialty clinics at Aultman Hospital in Canton, runs physician practices throughout the region and provides hospital-based doctors to staff the pediatric unit for MedCentral Health System in Mansfield.

In addition, Children’s runs the special-care nursery at Akron General Medical Center and the pediatric unit at Robinson Memorial Hospital in Ravenna.

This post appears through the MedCity Influencers program. Anyone can publish their perspective on business and innovation in healthcare on MedCity News through MedCity Influencers. Click here to find out how.