KETTERING HEALTH SET TO EXPAND INTO MIDDLETOWN

Kettering Health Network is planning an open house event ahead of its debut in Middletown.

The health network is preparing to open a 67,000-square-foot medical center in Middletown on Aug. 8 and will have an open house 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 5.

The center will have an emergency department, imaging, physician practices and the network will hire about 110 employees to work at the 6147 W. State Route 122 office.

Kettering Health said in a press release that it will have children’s events and other entertainment as part of the grand opening.

Kettering Health’s new center could impact its competitor, Premier Health, which operates nearby Atrium Medical Center.

The two organizations now both have billboards near Interstate 75 exit 32, with Kettering Health previewing its new medical center and Premier touting its ER wait times.

Premier leaders previously raised the alarm that if Kettering Health strips away its high-revenue customers, then it could make it harder for Premier to subsidize less profitable services that are needed in the community.

Kettering Health officials have said they already serve patients from the Middletown area and are adding a location to be closer to where the network’s patients live.

Kettering Health’s new center could impact its competitor, Premier Health, which operates nearby Atrium Medical Center.