Premier Health continues growth in region

Premier Health plans to spend $25 million to construct four new medical offices in the region, including locations in Monroe and Liberty Twp., as the health system continues to increase its physician presence.

The company’s announcement comes amid a surge of health care construction from not only Premier but also its chief competitor Kettering Health and out-of-market systems.

MORE: Kettering Health Network’s new $36M Middletown medical complex

The roll out includes two previously announced health centers: a 12,000-square-foot office at 6615 Cincinnati-Dayton in Liberty Twp. and 18,000-square-foot 35 Overbrook Blvd. in Monroe.

Diane Pleiman, president of Premier Physician Network, said the combined investment for those two offices is about $7 million

The Liberty Twp. office will have have a ribbon cutting Nov. 7 and Monroe will have a ribbon cutting Dec. 6.

Premier, with $1.7 billion in revenue, is the largest private employer in the region and operates Miami Valley Hospital, Atrium Medical Center and Upper Valley Medical Center as well as a large physician and outpatient network.

On Tuesday, the company said it will add 45,000-square-foot offices in Vandalia and Beavercreek, each estimated as $9 million projects. They will act as Premier primary and specialty care hubs and also have x-ray and laboratory services.

“The reason is all around access and ease of access,” said Diane Pleiman, president of Premier Physician Network.

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The offices will consolidate smaller practices in those communities and Premier said it will recruit additional doctors into the larger hub offices.

The Vandalia office will break ground in October at 600 Aviator Court, on the southeast corner of the Northwoods Boulevard and Interstate 75 interchange. The Beavercreek office will break ground in November and will be off North Fairfield Road behind the Chick-Fil-A.

She said in an office with just one or two providers, its difficult for physicians to fill in for each other if someone is out sick.

Pleiman said the office model also better connects them with specialties like cardiology, endocrinology, rheumatology and OB/GYN.

“So our patients will be able to go to one familiar location for the majority of their care,” she said.

Between the four different locations, there will be around 150 employees and about 25 percent of those employees will be new.

In recent years, Dayton hospital systems have rapidly grown in the southern suburbs. Kettering, Premier and Children’s have each built new facilities, including freestanding ERs, outpatient centers and Dayton Children’s south campus.

But recently, the local hospital systems have been investing in the north.

Premier, along with its most recent announcement, is opening a Huber Heights urgent care, among its series of urgent care centers in the region.

MORE: Freestanding ERs on the rise in region

Kettering Health is building a new hospital in Troy and bought a property in Piqua, though hasn’t named what its plans are for the site.

Dayton Children’s announced a new Huber Heights urgent care center and will also be moving different practices to a consolidated outpatient center in Troy, where the hospital will add 15 to 20 new employees.

The Dayton Daily News previously reported that the majority of health care construction has been centered around areas with growing populations and higher rates of employer-based insurance, which pays providers more than Medicare or Medicaid.

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