BELPRE, OH -- Ohio Governor Mike DeWine joined healthcare and community leaders from southeast Ohio on Oct 8th, for a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the beginning of construction on a new women and children’s hospital at Memorial Health System’s Belpre Medical Campus.

The facility will be southeast Ohio’s only women and children’s hospital.

“This is a welcome and needed addition for thousands of women, mothers, babies, and children across our Appalachian region,” said Governor DeWine. “Expectant mothers with high-risk pregnancies, babies born prematurely, or others in need of specialized healthcare supports will no longer be forced to travel an hour or more to get medical care in an unfamiliar place. This new hospital will bring these lifesaving supports closer to home.”

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The state provided $30 million in support of the project through the FY2024-2025 State Operating Budget, which was passed by the Ohio General Assembly and signed by Governor DeWine last year. The funding was provided to Memorial Health System through the Ohio Department of Health (ODH).

“The Ohio Department of Health is pleased to be able to provide this funding,” said ODH Director Bruce Vanderhoff, MD, MBA. “There is no doubt that this hospital will make a very real difference in the lives of many mothers and their children in this region.”

The 66,000-square-foot, $125 million women and children’s hospital will provide residents of southeast Ohio access to a wide range of specialized prenatal services, a NICU, and more.

Currently, mothers and babies in the region in need of specialized OBGYN or pediatric services may have to travel as much as 50-100 miles to receive adequate care. As a result, in 2023 alone, over 200 expectant mothers facing high-risk pregnancies and the vast majority of infants requiring NICU care went outside of the service area to receive services, according to Memorial Health System.

The new facility will support a region where high-risk pregnancies are especially common. In 2022, the infant mortality rate in Ohio’s Appalachian region was more than 30% higher than the national rate.

Once fully operational, the hospital system hopes to have 1,600 births at the new facility each year – doubling the annual number of births done by their obstetrics unit in recent years. The hospital will also offer expanded mental health services to support mothers who experience postpartum depression.

The hospital will be operated by Memorial Health System, with additional support from and in partnership with Akron Children’s Hospital. The facility is currently scheduled to open in fall 2026.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) also helped make this groundbreaking possible. The location for the new hospital has a 65-year industrial history, including aluminum lamination operations and plastics manufacturing. Ohio EPA worked closely with Memorial Health System and Sunday Creek Horizons to confirm that all hazardous materials in the soil had been removed, clearing the property for construction.

"The Ohio EPA appreciates the vision of Memorial Health System in seeing the potential in this previously unusable industrial location," said Ohio EPA Director Anne Vogel. "My teams worked closely with Memorial Health System to oversee removal of 116 tons of soil, paving the way for this investment in the health of women and children throughout the region."

Many supporters of the new hospital were on-hand for the groundbreaking ceremony, which also included performances by the Belpre High School marching band, the Red Wing Drill Team of Parkersburg High School, and the Marietta High School Vocal Point acapella ensemble.

The new hospital is just the latest example of the state’s investment in Appalachia under the leadership of Governor DeWine.

Earlier this year, Governor DeWine and Lt. Governor Jon Husted announced the new Appalachian Children's Health Initiative, an investment of more than $64 million to the Appalachian Children Coalition to support the creation or expansion of community- and school-based health clinics, the launch of healthcare-focused workforce development programs, and more.

The Appalachian Children’s Health Initiative is part of the larger $500 million Appalachian Community Grant Program, which is funding downtown revitalizations, providing new opportunities for public education, offering access to community health services, and spurring economic development within Ohio’s 32-county Appalachian region.