“Mercy Health has a long history in the city of Fairfield, and we saw the immediate opportunity to grow one of our most popular practices in the Patterson Drive location,” said Mercy Health Physicians Chief Operating Officer Courtney Seitz. “In addition to easing access to important primary care services by adding more providers to the practice, patients and the community can also take advantage of lab services located conveniently under one roof.”
The move is spurred by growth in the medical practice, according to the hospital system. The 14,435-square-foot location, which will be at the former Planet Fitness gym, will provide Fairfield Internal Medicine with 30 exam rooms and a lab that will be open to both the community and patients of the practice.
The move will allow the practice to open an hour earlier. When it moves, Fairfield Internal Medicine will be open 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday.
Mercy Health–Fairfield Internal Medicine will occupy the last remaining piece of the former Fair Plaza shopping center, now known as Patterson Place. While the move will give the medical practice a highly visible location along U.S. 127/Pleasant Avenue — it’s currently tucked in a residential area of the city ― it will increase the private investment into Patterson Place.
In 2019, the city’s Aldi grocery store opened in the plaza and is currently valued at $2 million, according to the Butler County Auditor’s office. The most recent appraisal for the former Planet Fitness location is $700,000, according to the auditor. Mercy Health will invest $2.2 million into the medical practice relocation.
The redevelopment of Patterson Drive has been a project for more than a decade, which started with the partial demolition of the former Fair Plaza shopping center. The former Planet Fitness building, which will be the new location for the Fairfield Internal Medicine practice, is the last remaining piece of that original center, in what’s now called Patterson Place.
The medical practice will increase the private investment into the retail complex.
“Aldi made a significant investment in recent years and is a strong anchor for the corner of Pleasant and Patterson,” said Fairfield Economic Development Manager Nathaniel Kaelin. “Mercy Health is a respected name and a high-quality tenant that should build on these redevelopment efforts.”
The investment is anticipated to pay dividends into the future of Fairfield, he said.
“Ultimately, the city hopes to see quality development on the nine acres of vacant land at the corner of Patterson and River Road,” Kaelin said. “This property could be an opportunity for new housing in the Town Center. Having a quality tenant like Mercy in the old Planet Fitness space — instead of a dark building — should make development of the vacant ground more viable.”
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