KHN TO OPEN WASHINGTON TWP. URGENT CARE FACILITY

Kettering Health wants facility in former Zoup! in Washington Twp.

Kettering Health Network filed a building permit seeking to open an urgent care center in Washington Twp.

The hospital network applied June 28 for a permit, which would repurpose the former Zoup! restaurant space.

The Montgomery County permit application filed states the urgent care is proposed at 1028 Miamisburg Centerville Road, Suite 5B, which is in the same shopping center as Whole Foods Market.

Messages were left with Kettering Health Network seeking more information.

The Dayton Daily News previously reported many U.S. hospital systems have ventured into owning urgent cares or operating them through joint ventures.

There are about 8,700 urgent cares now in the U.S., up from 6,400 in 2014, according to the Urgent Care Association.

Premier Health, which is Kettering Health Network’s main competitor, just opened a new business line of urgent care centers around the Miami Valley.

In April, Allan Baumgarten, Minnesota-based consultant and author of the Ohio Health Market Review, said there are four main reasons for a hospital system to add urgent cares.

They divert inappropriate ER visits. They extend the health system’s footprint, especially into areas with higher household income and where many households have good group insurance through their employer. They expand the population getting care inside that health system. And lastly, Baumgarten said they help hospital networks connect with certain populations, such as millennials, who have no loyalty to health systems or clinics and who value convenience and patient experience.