Officials at Dayton, Ohio-based Premier Health said an increasingly competitive healthcare landscape and an inefficient use of space were major contributors to officials' decision to close Good Samaritan Hospital, also in Dayton, by the end of the year, according to WHIOTV 7 News.
Premier Health President and CEO Mary Boosalis told WHIOTV 7 News both Good Samaritan and the health system's second Dayton-area facility, Miami Valley Hospital, operate at about half capacity instead of closer to the 80 to 85 percent goal to efficiently use the space.
"The bottom line is 50 percent utilization implies excess capacity," Ms. Boosalis told WHIOTV 7 News.
Ms. Boosalis also previously stated, "It is difficult to justify operating two large acute-care hospitals just five miles apart here in Dayton" in today's healthcare environment.
Health system officials said it would cost roughly $90 million to keep the Good Samaritan Hospital campus up to code during the next 10 years. To minimize costs, Premier Health reportedly plans to consolidate services between Good Samaritan and Miami Valley and transfer roughly 1,600 jobs outside of Dayton — a move that is expected to save $7 million to $8 million annually in operating costs, according to the report.