Avita Health System’s board and administration hosted a celebration on Monday morning for Avita’s newest expansion to the Richland Mall in Ontario.
State Representative Mark Romanchuk was a guest at the celebration that was held in front of the recent purchase of the Lazarus building. “I think it is wonderful that this beautiful building is getting occupied. With this purchase, it will be an extension of great things for the community. I believe it will benefit the area and I like the model. It is a very unique idea and it really does make sense. I think it will be a model that will duplicate in the future. It is a win-win for everyone,” said Romanchuk.
Avita board chairman Doug Schilling welcomed guests to the open house and shared his excitement of the purchase. “It’s an honor to be here today to start everything off. It’s been a real pleasure over the last three years serving as the Board Chairman, seeing some of the exciting growth that has occurred with Avita. Today is a small celebration with large significance,” said Schilling.
“We are here to serve the community. It really is the community that brought us here. I can’t say enough about Ontario and how welcoming they have been. We strongly believe as a board that it is important to provide quality healthcare conveniently. We are looking to add several board members from the Ontario, Richland County area as well. We think it is important to have representation from the overall area. I just want to thank Mayor Larry Collins and Mark Weidemyre for an outstanding job of welcoming us. It took a long time to get us here, but we are thrilled to be here now,” said Schilling.
Schilling shared some of what will be offered at the new location. “Physcian clinics, lab services, pharmacy, and imaging including MRI, CT, and ultrasounds will be available here at this location. We value the community’s input to this project because the community is our customer,” said Schilling.
Avita President/CEO Jerry Morasko echoed Schilling in giving his appreciation to everyone involved with the project. “We felt long term that this was a good strategy for Avita to go into this market. Also, there is a health professional shortage and we are going to try and fill that gap. The first phase of this Ontario project will be opening up a multi-specialty clinic. We will have about 10-12 physicians right away coming into this facility,” said Morasko.
“We liked the location of this site and we really wanted this site. It really made a lot of sense for us and plus it was in the mall. Also, economically we thought it was good for the area. We are a local health system which means the board members live locally. The service line decisions will be determined by people who live in this area. That is what Avita is about. I have to thank Jodi Scott the General Manager of the Richland Mall for her help and patience,” said Morasko.
Morasko noted that a viewing window that will be in place “where people can come by and watch the progression.”.
Mayor Larry Collins spoke about the growth Avita will bring to Ontario. “Thank you for choosing to come to Ontario. It’s a great day for Richland County, too.
“Here we have healthcare at many levels right in our own backyard. This is a great building that is very solid and ready to be used for healthcare. We are grateful that this new venture will bring jobs and business. It will also bring encouragement to our area and gives us a bright light that things are moving forward. As mayor I look forward with great optimism to the future in the coming months,” said Collins.
“I applaud the leadership of Avita and their forward thinking vision. I welcome the Avita organization to the city of Ontario. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for coming to help people,” he added.
Director of Ontario Growth Corporation Mark Weidemyre shared how the project developed.
“This is great for our city and I cannot tell you how excited I am. We started this about a year and a half ago and working with Jerry and everyone at Avita has been terrific. The first building we showed them was the old carpet store that is now Planet Fitness. So, it started from something that small and ended up to where we are today. It’s great for the community and it is wonderful to see this Lazarus building getting used. This will help breathe life back into the city,” said Weidemyre.
“This project has generated curiosity and we are the first one in Ohio that has embarked on a project with healthcare and a mall. The community acceptance will dictate the growth of this project,” said Weidemyre.
“We are here to serve the community. It really is the community that brought us here. I can’t say enough about Ontario and how welcoming they have been. We strongly believe as a board that it is important to provide quality healthcare conveniently,” said Avita board chairman Doug Schilling.
