The Licking County Board of Commissioners has approved the issuance of $10 million in bonds for the construction of an education and event center for the Licking County Memorial Health Foundation. This decision was made during their meeting on October 16.
According to the commissioners' meeting agenda, the commission acted as a representative of the Heath-Licking County Port Authority in this bond issuance, which involves Park National Bank and Licking Memorial Hospital. The financing will support various projects, including construction, renovation, acquisition, and installation of medical equipment, electronic health record software, and licenses for different departments within Licking Memorial Hospital.
A public hearing was held by the Port Authority on October 14 regarding the bond issuance. It was certified that no material concerns were raised in opposition during this hearing.
Licking Memorial Health Systems (LMHS) announced on its Facebook page that it broke ground on June 12 for a $26 million education and event center to be built on the main hospital campus. The center aims to provide a central location for health education, activities, and events to further LMHS's mission of improving community health.
Rob Montagnese, President and CEO of LMHS, said via Facebook that the organization currently employs over 2,600 individuals. He noted that there is less meeting space available now compared to earlier in his career when LMHS had about 900 employees. This change is attributed to expansions completed to accommodate necessary patient services and technologies.
