AdventHealth Ottawa to reopen labor-and-delivery unit Sept. 22; hospital cites sales-tax funding for services

AdventHealth Ottawa announced Aug. 27 that it will reopen its labor-and-delivery program Sept. 22 and plans a community ribbon-cutting on Sept. 18 from 5 to 7 p.m. Hospital representatives told the Franklin County Commission the unit’s reopening responds to area need after recent rural closures.

The hospital said its patient-experience scores have improved “above the ninetieth percentile” in recent months, and that quality metrics including the CMS star rating and Leapfrog scores are being tracked. “Right now we’re Leapfrog B…we think we’ve got strong enough quality metrics to move back to a Leapfrog A,” said Erin, an AdventHealth representative to the commission.

Why it matters: Commissioners and staff discussed the reopening while hospital leaders described how local sales-tax dollars are being used to support charity care, capital improvements and operations at Ransom Memorial Hospital and affiliated clinics. Sean, who presented the hospital’s sales-tax update, said the hospital projects about $1,800,000 in charity-care spending for 2025 (annualized through June) and that sales-tax receipts through June were just under $1.5 million, roughly $57,000 above projection to date.

Hospital officials named the four clinicians who will staff the revived maternity service: Dr. Abney (an OB-GYN who joined in December), Dr. Raven Weiss (joining in September), Dr. Haley Lowell (family-medicine obstetrics background), and Dr. Chase Brown (expected in 2026). AdventHealth said it has hired staff beginning in July and that sales-tax dollars were budgeted to support labor-and-delivery staffing and associated capital needs.

Hospital leaders also described recent and planned capital work paid in part from sales-tax allocations: a new customer-relationship management system for surgical services, new emergency department beds, drainage and resurfacing work on a hospital lot, and an expansion in Wellsville that increased clinic rooms and added behavioral-health space. “Sales tax revenue continues to play a critical role in allowing us to provide services and operate within our community,” Sean said.

Commissioners asked whether the labor-and-delivery unit would pay for itself; hospital staff said the operation is “pretty close to about the breakeven” but that they would need to run the numbers again. No formal county action was required or taken on the hospital update during the meeting.

The hospital invited commissioners to the ribbon cutting and said it will provide invitations to the commission and community.