Groundbreaking for Cincinnati Children's Liberty Campus
At a September 15, 2006 ceremony, Cincinnati Children's officially broke ground for a major new facility in Liberty Township, at the intersection of I-75 and Ohio Route 129. The event was attended by local government leaders and families who will benefit from having a Cincinnati Children's facility close to home.
| Cincinnati Children's opened its first off-campus outpatient center in Mason in the late 1980s and now has 10 outpatient centers across the region. But the 200,000 square-foot, $83 million facility in Liberty Township will be different than our other outpatient centers. In addition to subspecialty clinics, diagnostic testing and therapy services, Liberty Township will have eight operating rooms, an emergency department and a short-stay unit. |  |
| Students from Lakota East High School's marching band and choir got the ceremony off to a stirring musical start. James Anderson, president and CEO of Cincinnati Children's, welcomed the audience, saying "We've been looking forward to this for a long time. It's a treat to be moving from planning to the next step in making this facility a reality." |  |
| Anderson called the groundbreaking for this comprehensive, new center an historic moment for Cincinnati Children's. |  |
| Next to speak was Christine Matacic, president of the Liberty Township Board of Trustees, who read a proclamation declaring September 15, 2006, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center Day in Liberty Township. "We are very fortunate that our children and grandchildren will have a state-of-the-art facility here," she said. |  |
| Also speaking was Steve Brinn, MD, a senior partner with Liberty / Sharonville Pediatrics and a pediatrician who practices in the area. He said, "When we chose to open an office here, we didn't know the extra treat that was in store for us and our patients," he said. "My patients will have access to a full-service ED. Kids will have superb treatment near to their home." |  |
| Among his patients are 8-year-old quadruplets Jacob, Emilie, Jenna and Rachel Peddicord. Their mother, Lisa, told the audience: "We have always felt lucky to have Cincinnati Children's in the area, and now feel even luckier to have Cincinnati Children's in our back yards." |  |
| Last to speak was Ohio State Senator Gary Cates. He noted that when families began moving to Liberty Township, "They had to travel to eat, to get retail goods and to get health care." Now the local community offers all the things needed for a good quality of life. "We have restaurants and retail stores, and we're glad to have a children's hospital."] |  |
| To conclude the program, "designated diggers" donned hard hats and picked up golden shovels for the ceremonial groundbreaking. |  |
