COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State University is planning a new hospital building specializing in studying and treating disorders of the spine and brain.
The university’s board of trustees is expected Friday to approve a proposed $14.3 million renovation of a building that previously housed the hospital’s cancer facility, which relocated to the main hospital’s new $750 million building.
The Wexner Medical Center’s Brain and Spine Hospital is expected to open in early 2016. It will treat patients with neurological injuries and disorders including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis and strokes.
“Neuroscience research and discoveries about the human brain and nervous system are growing at an unprecedented rate…The new Brain and Spine Hospital will create a ‘neurological cluster’ of disease-specific subspecialty units where multidisciplinary teams are focused on providing comprehensive, coordinated, efficient and compassionate care for the best patient experience and outcomes” university president Michael Drake said.
The new hospital will expand in-patient capacity with 90 private rooms, including some dedicated to clinical trials.
It will be part of Ohio State’s Neurological Institute, which is an initiative involving 14 colleges, including engineering, business, dentistry, social work, nursing and pharmacy.
The institute’s clinical operation will include the new Brain and Spine Hospital, Dodd Hall for inpatient rehabilitation, Harding Hospital for behavioral health and Talbot Hall for alcohol and drug addiction services.
The Neurological Institute is comprised of researchers, scientists and clinicians in neuroscience, neurology, neurosurgery, psychiatry, and physical medicine and rehabilitation, focusing on neuro-oncology/skull base, spine/spine trauma, stroke/cerebrovascular, neuromuscular/multiple sclerosis, neurodegenerative disorders/dementia, movement disorders, epilepsy, spinal cord injury, pain and psychiatric disorders.