August 25, 2020 / Jeff Lagasse, Associate Editor
Ohio State University is awaiting final approval from its Board of Trustees on the largest single facilities project ever undertaken at the university: a 1.9 million-square-foot inpatient hospital, a project with an estimated cost of $1.79 billion.
The new Ohio State University Wexner Center Inpatient Hospital is expected to enhance leading-edge research, clinical training and patient care as part of OSU’s long-term Framework 2.0 planning. Framework 2.0 is a vision that outlines development planning across the campus to advance healthcare, research and the arts.
Pending board approval, the hospital will provide 820 beds in private room settings and will facilitate training for up-and-coming healthcare providers. Dr. Hal Paz, executive vice president and chancellor for Health Affairs at The Ohio State University and CEO of Ohio State Wexner Medical Center, said the project was inspired in part by the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for cutting-edge facilities in the region.
The new hospital, he said, will allow OSU to serve more patients and “align hospital resources with an interprofessional education model and innovative research,” which will allow for a more rapid translation of medical discoveries into direct patient care.
