Ohio State plans ambulatory-care center

Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center Board approved Wednesday the purchase of nearly 32 acres of land on the Northeast Side for a new ambulatory-care center.

The land, currently vacant, is made up of four parcels, and is located at the southeast corner of Route 161 and North Hamilton Road, just west of New Albany.

Ohio State would pay $11 million for the property, which is less than the land’s appraised value, according to board documents.

Additionally, Leslie Wexner, chairman of the medical center board, and his wife, Abigail, who also sits on the board, have economic interest in an LLC that owns the land. With the sale of the property, the couple would donate that economic interest to the university, according to Ohio State spokesman Dan Hedman.

Both abstained from voting on the land purchase Wednesday.

At its meeting, the medical center board also approved $4 million for professional design services for the planned ambulatory-care center.

The site currently is zoned commercial planned development, and Ohio State has filed a rezoning application to allow the construction of medical facilities.

The property purchase and design money must still be approved by the university’s Board of Trustees, which is scheduled to vote on the two proposals at its meeting Friday.

The envisioned ambulatory-care center would be about 200,000 square feet and would include ambulatory surgery, endoscopy, primary care, specialty medical and surgical clinics, as well as related support services.

The center’s design also could be used in the development of additional ambulatory-care centers built by the medical center elsewhere in the future, said Jay Kasey, Ohio State’s senior vice president for administration and planning.