Private microhospital with ER proposed for Dublin, Gahanna

COLUMBUS, Ohio (COLUMBUS BUSINESS FIRST) — A doctor-owned operator of microhospitals, in the process of going public through a merger, is the latest developer to propose private standalone emergency departments in Central Ohio.

Houston-based Nutex Health LLC plans a six-bed facility in Dublin and an eight-bed one in Gahanna, according to a proxy filing as part of the merger. A preliminary filing with the city shows the Dublin site is just 4,000 feet from Mount Carmel Health System‘s planned new-build hospital in the fast-growing suburb.

Founded 10 years ago by Dr. Tom Vo, its CEO, Nutex has 10 “mature” facilities in Texas and surrounding states, and four that opened within the past two years. It spread to Kansas and Indiana in 2020.

The Central Ohio sites are the only ones listed for the state, amid 16 hospitals planned or under construction in its existing markets plus Wisconsin and Florida.

Nutex has requested an informal review before the Dublin Planning and Zoning Commission for a site at 3800 W. Dublin-Granville Road, at the corner of Dublin Center Drive, according to sketches by JTM Architects on the city website. The commission would only give feedback before the company submits an application, a spokesman said. The site is currently greenspace and parking for a Fifth Third Bank branch, which owns the parcel. Bank officials were not immediately available for comment.

The company has scheduled a meeting Friday with Gahanna officials, a city spokeswoman said, so no other details are yet available.

Nutex announced an agreement in November to merge into the smaller public health IT company Clinigence Holdings Inc., in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The combination applies Cinigence software for value-based care and population health management to Nutex’s clinical operations, according to a news release. Company officials were not immediately available for comment.

The combined company will be renamed Nutex Health Inc. and based in Houston, with Vo as CEO and chairman. Clinigence CEO Dr. Warren Hosseinion is to be named president.

“Both of our organizations have a history of providing high-quality, concierge-level care that is cost-effective and focused on outcomes and high patient satisfaction,” Vo said in the release.

Nutex had a net income of $101 million on $273 million revenue in 2020, and through the first nine months of 2021, grew to $117.5 million earnings on $266.5 million revenue, according to the proxy.

Clinigence went public in 2019 and has been operating at a loss while growing through acquisitions. It had a loss of $5.1 million on $1.6 million revenue in 2020, another loss of $9 million on $12.9 million revenue through the first nine months of 2021 after acquiring another software company.

Columbus-based Mount Carmel has requested rezoning for 35 acres off Bright Road and Emerald Parkway in Dublin, where it plans its fifth hospital, a $200 million, 30-bed facility.

Other developers, coincidentally both from Texas, have proposed microhospitals and standalone ERs for Dublin and other Columbus suburbs in the past. Dallas-based Adeptus Health had a joint venture with Mount Carmel that dissolved in 2017 before it built anything. Embree Asset Group. proposed sites in Dublin and Whitehall in 2017 but did not pursue development.

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