Kettering (Ohio) Health has received pushback from the city of Xenia, Ohio, after sharing plans to replace its Greene Memorial Hospital and invest $44 million into a new facility — Kettering Health Xenia.
"The city does not support this approach and sees this move for what it is—a further reduction in services that will force our residents to seek basic healthcare outside of Greene County and displace current Greene Memorial Hospital employees," Brent Merriman, city manager of Xenia, said in an Aug. 6 statement shared with Becker's.
The pushback comes after Xenia city officials initially proposed to acquire Greene Memorial Hospital from Kettering Health after claims that the health system had cut services and drained the hospital's resources over the last decade.
Mr. Merriman said that the replacement hospital will also discourage healthcare market competition and negatively affect care access in the community.
Kettering Health Xenia will feature a Kettering Health breast evaluation center, imaging services and programs to support emergency care and a full-service emergency room. It is expected to take 24 months to complete.
Kettering Health did not have a comment for Becker's at this time.