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OhioHealth to Build $700 Million Hospital Near New Albany
OhioHealth plans to build a 600,000-square-foot hospital near the intersection of SR 161 and Hamilton Road, converting the former Big Lots headquarters site into a facility with 160 inpatient beds and 1,700 jobs.
OhioHealth announced plans Wednesday to build a $700 million hospital near the intersection of State Route 161 and Hamilton Road, a project that will transform the former Big Lots headquarters site into a major health care hub for the fast-growing northeast Columbus region.
The new facility, to be called OhioHealth New Albany Methodist Hospital, will break ground early next year with a projected completion in the second half of 2030, according to the Columbus-based health system.
The hospital will encompass 600,000 square feet, with 325,000 square feet created through renovation of existing buildings on the site and 275,000 square feet of new construction. It will open with 160 inpatient beds and 140 physicians and other providers, and is expected to employ 1,700 people when fully operational.
OhioHealth purchased the 25-acre former Big Lots headquarters property at 4860-4900 E. Dublin-Granville Road in 2025 for $36 million, according to the Franklin County Auditor's office. Earlier this year, the system bought an adjacent 11-acre parcel at 4960 E. Dublin-Granville Road for $22.5 million. The $700 million investment does not include those property purchases.
"Central Ohio is growing and we need to make sure access to high-quality care grows with it," said Steve Markovich, president and CEO of OhioHealth, in a statement. "New Albany Methodist is a significant investment in the future of this region and in making care more accessible to the families we serve in northeast Columbus and communities north and east of New Albany."
The project adds to a period of significant expansion for OhioHealth across the region. The system is currently building large-scale additions at its Riverside Methodist Hospital campus and at Grant Medical Center downtown.
The announcement comes as central Ohio's population continues to climb, with regional planners projecting the area could reach 3 million residents by 2055 if immigration trends continue. Local officials and health care leaders have increasingly pointed to the need for expanded medical infrastructure to keep pace with that growth.
The hospital's location near the SR 161 corridor places it at a crossroads of some of the region's most rapidly developing suburbs, including New Albany, Gahanna and Westerville. The site's reuse of a former corporate headquarters also reflects a broader trend of converting underused office campuses into new purposes as the nature of work changes.
OhioHealth said more information about the project is available through its newsroom.