Mercy's Planned West Side Hospital Gets Architects
Champlin, Ellerbe Becket to start designing immediately
Business Courier of Cincinnati - by James Ritchie, Staff Reporter

Mercy Health Partners has chosen Cincinnati-based Champlin Architecture and Minneapolis-based Ellerbe Becket to design its planned West Side hospital.

“We are extremely fortunate to have two architecture firms of this caliber collaborate on the design for this project,” James May, CEO of Mercy Health Partners, said in a statement. He said the new hospital will be a health care hub for West Side and western Hamilton County communities.

Champlin’s health care résumé includes the Mercy Medical Center Mount Orab, the Heart Hospital and patient tower at Mercy Hospital Fairfield and an outpatient center at the Ohio State University Medical Center.

Ellerbe Becket has designed facilities for the Mayo Clinic, Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota and Mercy’s parent organization, Catholic Healthcare Partners. Spokesmen for the firms were not immediately available for comment.

Mercy is building a $200 million hospital near Interstate 74 in Green Township. The location offers visibility to more than 40,000 commuters who drive on I-74 near the North Bend Road exit each day, according to the OKI Regional Council of Governments. The facility will replace inpatient services at Mercy’s Western Hills and Mount Airy sites. Outpatient services will remain, possibly at those hospital locations.

Design work will start immediately, in preparation for the hospital’s 2011 groundbreaking, according to Mercy. The system operates three other hospitals: Mercy Fairfield, Mercy Anderson and Mercy Clermont.

As the Business Courier reported Jan. 22, Mercy invited 21 firms to bid on the hospital project, the first large development job to be put out for bid locally in months. Among those known to have been on the list are URS Corp., GBBN, HOK and RTKL.

Mercy assembled land for the hospital along Boomer Road, off North Bend Road, at a cost of $20 million. The facility could house up to 250 beds and will include oncology care, women’s services and a heart program. 

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