AdventHealth Ottawa outlines sales-tax spending, OB recruitment and Wellsville clinic remodel

AdventHealth Ottawa representatives updated the Franklin County Commission on the hospital’s use of local sales-tax revenue and staffing plans during the meeting in Ottawa.

The presentation said sales-tax revenue available to the hospital totaled just under $2.9 million in 2024 and that the hospital’s RMH board approved allocations in January 2024. The hospital reported keeping the line item the board identifies as available for charity care at $700,000 while noting total charity-care spending approached $2 million in 2024. For 2025, AdventHealth budgeted roughly $2.9 million for charity care and related allocations.

The report matters because the local sales-tax revenues fund charity care, capital projects and operations for the hospital, and county officials review how those dollars are spent.

AdventHealth’s new president and CEO for the Ottawa facility, Bridal Johnson, introduced himself and described staff priorities including standing up an obstetrics program. Johnson said an OB/GYN, Dr. Abney, began in December and that two additional family-medicine providers with OB training remain to be hired to provide call coverage. Johnson said the hospital has engaged multiple physician recruitment firms, planned an on-site candidate visit later in the month, added referral and sign-on bonuses and remains optimistic about an August target to begin the labor-and-delivery program.

Sean Perry, an AdventHealth representative who opened the presentation to the commission, summarized capital work the hospital completed in 2024 and planned for 2025. Highlights include installation of a new nurse-call system and purchase of diagnostic equipment (EEG, EMG, PFT machines) and replacement of aging chillers from 1973 — a project Johnson said cost about $900,000 and whose new units were delivered the Friday before the meeting. Perry said the Wellsville clinic is being expanded from four exam rooms to seven, with construction underway and an anticipated completion in June; the expanded clinic will serve as a rotating hub for specialties as the community grows.

Johnson opened his remarks with an anecdote about a community welcome and told the commissioners, “If we're fighting to be the nicest, there's no losers. We're both winners.”

No formal action or vote by the commission was required on the presentation. Commissioners and hospital staff discussed recruitment, capital timing and the distinction between the RMH board’s budget allocations and total charity-care spending reported by the hospital.

Speakers identified in the record include Bridal Johnson, president and CEO, AdventHealth Ottawa, and Sean Perry, AdventHealth representative. The hospital referenced its RMH board when describing previously approved allocations.