BY KEVIN ALDRIDGE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MASON --
Residents here will no longer have to leave town for quick and convenient medical attention.
Treatment of minor injuries and ailments will be right around the corner when Mercy Health Center Mason opens Monday.
Hours will be 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
The center, at 7450 Mason-Montgomery Road, will host an open house from noon-3 p.m. today.
Mercy Health Center Mason will combine the speed of an urgent care facility with many of the health care resources traditionally found in an emergency department. The center will have a staff comprising 130 medical technicians, nurses and emergency medicine board-certified physicians.
"This new center will be like a "micro-hospital,' " said Melissa Koehler, Mason's economic development director. "It will have all of the services and amenities of a full-fledged hospital without the beds."
The new 9,000-square-foot health center will offer urgent care and occupational health services, as well as a diagnostic lab and X-ray services.
"I think we are providing a type of service that has been largely unavailable in Mason and Deerfield Township for some time," said Tom Heffernan, regional director of Mercy Health Partners.
"Unscheduled care is generally found to be useful in communities like this because a person suffering from a minor injury or illness may not always be able to schedule an appointment with their family physician. We are here to fill that need."
The $11 million health center will be equipped with an emergency room, physicians offices, outpatient service area and an MRI facility.
Mrs. Koehler said the $11 million facility is based on a new national model for health care services and is the first of its kind in the region.
Residents also can visit the center for sports injury care; pre-admission testing; pre-employment, school or sports exams and immunizations. Mr. Heffernan added that the center accepts all major health care plans.
Ms. Koehler said the idea for this type of facility was conceived by physicians with Premiere Health Care Services, a Dayton-based group of emergency and trauma doctors. The group conducted a statewide search to see where to build the facility before deciding on Mason two years ago, she said.
"We were selected mainly because of the various levels of diversity in our community," she said. "It is like a coming of age for the community when a medical facility of this stature chooses to locate here."
"We just felt like Mason would be a good fit for us," Mr. Heffernan said. "We also felt that this would be a good place to extend our urgent care and occupational medicine programs, because Mercy has not traditionally had a presence in this area."
