Mary Rutan Health marks completion of $4M renovation project
Community members and public officials came together Friday, Jan. 20, to commemorate alongside Mary Rutan Health the opening of the new Goble Center for
Women and Children and tour the state-of-the-art 19,000-square foot facility following the $4 million renovation project that began in early 2022.
Mary Rutan Obstetrics & Gynecology, previously located at 1125 Rush Ave., now has joined Mary Rutan Pediatrics at the 118 Dowell Ave. space, offering a dedicated facility for nurturing the health and wellness of women and children in the community.
“This has been a vision for many of us for many years,” President and CEO Chad Ross said. “We’re excited to be here today to celebrate the completion of this space for pediatrics and OBGYN, all under one roof.
“It will be where expectant parents hear their baby’s heartbeat for the first time and discover the gender of their child, and then watch as their children reach new milestones at checkups.
“It also provides women of our community with a facility focused on taking care of their needs through all stages of life with the latest technology.”
The new center is named in honor of former president and CEO of Mary Rutan Health, Mandy Goble, who retired in 2021 after 32 years of service. Goble served for 17 1/2 years as the president and CEO. Prior to that, she was the executive vice president from 2001 to 2004 and vice president of operations from 1989 to 2004.
At Friday’s ceremony attended by many of the Goble Center’s medical staff and fellow Mary Rutan Health employees, Goble made sure to recognize the numerous individuals who made this facility come to life through their careful planning and attention to important details.
“I’m so grateful to each of you and I want to applaud everyone’s efforts for this project. I tip my hat to you,” she said. “It is so exciting to have the opportunity to increase the access to care for our community.”
Ross said many of the medical providers gave their input during the design stage for the Goble Center, with architects from the Design Group in Columbus leading the process.
Marker Inc. then set to work on the extensive exterior renovations and on the new clinic space for Mary Rutan Obstetrics & Gynecology, which transitioned into the building in mid-December. A number of local subcontractors worked on the project as well.
The president and CEO expressed appreciation to all of these community and project partners, along with the Mary Rutan Foundation Board for its donation of $1 million toward the initiative.
The Goble Center features a shared main entrance for both the OBGYN and pediatrics patients located at the front of the facility. Then a hallway has entrances to the separate clinic spaces for the new Obstetrics & Gynecology area at the west side of the building and for Pediatrics, which remains at the east side of the building.
“Our pediatric office was open throughout the construction process, and I’m so grateful to the staff for working around the challenges of that time, including their main entrance being closed,” Ross said. “Then our OBGYN group did an excellent job during their move and were back open within just a few days.”
OBGYN office manager Carla Deringer and other staff members led groups on tours of the new clinic, which features ample light, comfortable furnishings, contemporary fixtures and a warm color palette to create a calming and relaxing patient environment, officials noted.
Deringer said one major improvement in the new space has been the creation of a waiting room/check-in area that is separate from the check-out area of the clinic.
“It improves patient privacy and is much less congested in our waiting area,” she said. “It really helps with that traffic flow.”
Past the main waiting area, the exam rooms make a complete circle around the building. They also offer flexible exam chairs that can easily be moved up and down and can accommodate patients with mobility issues, staff members noted.
In addition, the new ultrasound rooms feature an adjacent bathroom, another design improvement, enabling patients to not have to get dressed and undressed multiple times to head to the bathroom like they did at the previous facility, the office manager noted.
The advanced ultrasound technology and video are “so clear; it’s amazing,” Deringer said. Attendees had the chance to see examples of Deringer’s previous ultrasound photos up on the screen of her now-15-month-old child.
Now that the Goble Center has opened its doors, Ross said the facility continues Mary Rutan Health’s master facility plan, focusing on building up the medical services and resources available locally.
“We’re seeing all of the revitalization of downtown Bellefontaine and talk about shopping local and the value that provides to the community. Similarly with our investments in local health care, we want to provide the community with access to high quality services close to home, improving quality of life for our residents,” he said.