Partnership funds medical expansion
Kettering Medical Center and Preble County Youth Foundation pledge $2.2 million to project.

From staff reports
Dayton Daily News

EATON - Preble County residents who have been asking for more local medical services are getting their wish.

Kettering Medical Center Network in partnership with the Preble County Youth Foundation is committing $2.2 million to a 14,000-foot expansion and 4,000-foot renovation of the medical campus owned by the foundation on Washington-Jackson Road, north of Eaton.

This expansion adds examination suites, dialysis facilities, a sleep center, pharmacy, imaging space, more parking and waiting room, plus an additional 25-30 jobs.

The doctors who have seen an estimated 20 percent growth in patient visits over the last two years are enthusiastic about being able to accommodate the demand with larger facilities.

The two-phase construction project has broken ground and the first phase should be completed by the end of the year.

Funded entirely by Grandview Hospital, through a loan secured by the Youth Foundation and repaid by KMC through a lease with the foundation, the project is moving along since the Preble County Youth Foundation is the landowner.

"Bringing additional medical facilities, jobs and opportunities for a healthy lifestyle is in keeping with our commitment to building the future for Preble County." said the foundation chairman, Wilfrid G. Dues.

The foundation previously raised community contributions to build a $5.4 million facility to house the Preble County YMCA and the current KMCN medical facility.

Another campaign will be launched in the next couple of weeks to expand the YMCA and add a new college branch campus.

Research shows that 62 percent of adults in Preble County have not achieved a post-secondary degree, in part because of the need to commute.

A partnership with Sinclair Community College could bring resources to the county.

The Preble County Youth Foundation is a not-for-profit organization conceived by Judge Wilfrid Dues whose experience both as a father and within the Preble County Juvenile System showed him the need to make an investment in our youth.