Cleveland, Ohio According to the health system, the long-delayed Outpatient Health Center, which is a component of the ongoing $1 billion Campus Transformation project, is anticipated to open to patients in April 2026.
Compared to MetroHealth’s most recent public update, which stated that the building would open sometime in 2026, the updated timeline provides additional detail.
A 24-hour drive-thru pharmacy and electronic check-in for patient appointments are features of the new facility, which was discussed during a MetroHealth board facilities and planning committee meeting on Wednesday.
Next to the Glick Center on MetroHealth’s main campus is the Outpatient Health Center, formerly known as Apex. In addition to the loading dock and other outdoor construction, workers are finishing the drywall, plumbing, flooring, and lighting inside.
The upper levels are almost finished, according to Jim Bicak, senior vice president of facilities, construction, and campus transformation. We’re quite pleased with the development, and I believe that every subcontractor has collaborated admirably to guide one another through the structure.
According to the health system, the Outpatient Health Center, new parking garage, and building upgrades on MetroHealth’s campus will cost $168.2 million to construct. Although it was supposed to open in 2024 at the time, that number is consistent with what MetroHealth reported in late 2023.
As of December, the Outpatient Health Center’s estimated total project cost was $224.3 million. Costs for building, medical equipment, furniture, signs, artwork, insurance, designs, and inspections are all included in that amount.
Pediatrics, internal medicine, pediatric behavioral health, radiology, oral surgery, and other disciplines will have offices at the new health facility.
Long waits will be eliminated when it opens because patients will be able to check in electronically at centralized registration kiosks, according to Eileen Hayes, vice president for facilities transition and operational integration at MetroHealth.
According to Hayes, the check-in kiosks will also give patients information on how to navigate the facility.
Both patients and non-patients will be able to use the health center’s drive-thru pharmacy around-the-clock.
According to Hayes, the inclusion of an Epic clinic map will be among the biggest modifications that will impact caregivers. Each exam and consultation room is shown on the electronic map, which also notifies doctors of the next available space.
Each doctor was given a few rooms under the previous regime.
Despite financial difficulties, transformation is still ongoing.
The facilities committee also talked about plans to renovate the Main Campus Emergency Department and the completion of the Glick Center patient tower. At the end of 2024, the Samuel H. Miller Foundation gave $3 million to the MetroHealth Foundation to support this project, and the health system said that more fundraising is in progress.
According to MetroHealth, the ultimate project cost will be determined in the coming months after design drawings and a comprehensive cost estimate are received.
The committee did not address whether MetroHealth’s building program had been impacted by its difficult financial circumstances.
In anticipation of a significant operational deficit and uncertainty regarding future government support, MetroHealth announced layoffs of roughly 125 employees last month. About a year after CEO Dr. Christine Alexander-Rage promised cost-cutting measures, that action was taken.
According to Bicak, building has not been harmed by the additional import duties. According to Bicak, MetroHealth had made advance purchases of materials and had set aside money to serve as a buffer in the event that tariffs resulted in future cost increases.
Changes and delays
One of Alexander-Rager’s greatest problems is finishing the Campus Transformation project.
After the board dismissed the project’s founder, Dr. Akram Boutros, and his successor, Airica Steed, in 2024, she was appointed the system’s third chief executive since 2022.
Boutros had the idea to build a hospital in a park, which led to the original $1 billion Campus Transformation project, which included the opening of the $767 million Glick Center in 2022.
Apex, an administrative and outpatient center, and a new parking structure were part of the initial proposal. In order to create green space on campus, the outdated Outpatient Pavilion had to be removed.
At the same time, Glick and Apex were being built. The outpatient center was scheduled to open a few months after Glick, which opened in 2022.
In order to accommodate the post-pandemic requirements of the health system, Steed converted Apex into an outpatient facility when she reevaluated the Campus Transformation plan. All of the building’s intended administrative space was transformed into patient care.
MetroHealth projected that Apex and a parking structure that is already finished would be finished in a year for $168 million by the end of 2023.
The public section of Wednesday’s meeting did not cover specifics of the renovations being made to the old outpatient pavilion.
The MetroHealth System Board of Trustees decided in October to invest an extra $133 million to complete the Campus Transformation.
This comprised $40 million to repair the existing Outpatient Pavilion and $93 million to complete the recently renamed Outpatient Health Center (previously Apex). At that time, the Outpatient Health Center’s estimated total project cost had increased to $224.3 million.
It was also stated in October that the rebuilt outpatient pavilion and the new Outpatient Health Center will both be finished by early 2026.
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