Mount Carmel begins construction on Dublin campus

DUBLIN, Ohio (WCMH) -- Mount Carmel is building a 30-bed hospital with attached medical offices in Dublin north of Bridge Park.

Construction is underway for the campus between Emerald Parkway and Sawmill Road after the health system purchased the land in September of last year for $12.1 million. The new location in Dublin marks the health system's first net addition since 2006.

"We really believe that the east side of Dublin deserves access to high-quality care," said Diane Doucette, president of several Mount Carmel campuses, during a meeting with Dublin's Planning and Zoning Commission. "That's why we're so committed to this project."

The 35-acre site is a four-minute drive north of Bridge Park and directly to the right of a proposed 53-lot neighborhood on 18.5 vacant acres. The campus is set to include a 204,500 square foot structure home to a four-story, 30-bed hospital with a connected medical offices building.

Mount Carmel proposed the campus in November 2021, followed by approval from the planning and zoning commission in August of last year. However, rising costs caused the health system to rethink plans last October and proposed constructing the campus in two phases, the hospital first then the attached medical office later.

"We want to build the entire campus as approved in August," said Lorraine Lutton, Mount Carmel CEO, during the October meeting with the planning and zoning commission. "It's not a good steward of resources right now to do that."

Commissioners spoke in opposition of Mount Carmel's amended proposal and said the inclusion of medical offices within the development's first phase is pivotal. Members also voiced concern for the proposal's removal of an access point from Sawmill Road.

"It's a beautiful building and you've done a lot of great things with the site that we're looking at here," said Commissioner Jamey Chinnock. "But, it's just really hard to get past, for me, looking at essentially half a development."

Since then, Mount Carmel has returned to the original plan approved in August with early construction work now in progress at the site. View the entire plan here.