March Council Message by Mayor Chris Dobrozsi
Bethesda North Hospital held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially open the Harold M. & Eugenia S. Thomas Comprehensive Care Center on January 16. The $80 million facility is the new front door to the hospital campus, and its innovative design sets the tone of the world-class care that will be provided within its four walls.
The Center will be home to easily accessible integrated care and service all under one roof. This includes the TriHealth Cancer Institute Clinic, The Mary Jo Cropper Family Center for Breast Care, TriHealth Heart Institute, and Imaging and Lab Services. All of this was made possible by a generous donation by Harold and Eugenia Thomas.
It was truly an honor to participate in the opening ceremony along with my fellow council members as well as several of the City’s dedicated staff. As I listened and learned about all the world-class health care that existed on campus, as well as the expanded health care services to be available in the new facility, I realized that we are all truly fortunate to have this level of health care right here in the city of Montgomery. Hoping we never need it – but feeling comfort knowing that it exists so close to home.
Bethesda North Hospital Campus opened its doors in the city of Montgomery in 1970, in a pioneering move to bring healthcare where its clients were living – the rapidly expanding suburbs. The site was previously the Radabaugh Farm and Homestead, and the hospital occupies approximately 88 acres of land. In addition to its pioneering location, the hospital also included a new model to the healthcare industry, including leadership in mammography, inpatient psychology, cardiac care, full-time emergency room service and an outpatient surgery center on the campus.
Throughout the years, Bethesda North Hospital has been a community-minded partner and has grown to become the single largest employer in the city of Montgomery, with over 3,200 employees. The hospital has 443 registered beds and, each year registers over 3,500 emergency room visits, delivers over 3,000 babies and performs over 2,500 heart surgeries.
I can only imagine the vision, risk, and determination it took 50 years ago to build a new hospital right here in the city of Montgomery; nor can I imagine the same vision, risk, and determination it took 25 years ago when Bethesda North Hospital joined TriHealth – one of the most integrated health care systems in the United States. I witnessed, first-hand, this same vision, risk, and determination at the ribbon-cutting for the Harold M. & Eugenia S. Thomas Comprehensive Care Center as the doors opened to the world-class health care leading the way to the next 50 years – right here in the city of Montgomery.