McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital (MHMH) is in the final planning stages of extensive renovations and expansion. After three meetings with the City of Oxford Planning Commission, the hospital is preparing its official proposal for Oxford City Council. MHMH's official proposal is expected to come in November, according to hospital President and CEO Bryan Hehemann.
According to Hehemann, the hospital created a strategic long-term plan as early as 2009 to address internal issues. An outcome of this plan was the necessity of updating some of the hospital's operations and buildings.
Chiefly, the hospital wants to renovate their emergency, laboratory medicine and IT departments and their community education office. However, their chief renovation will go towards updating the offices of visiting specialists.
"We have many specialists who come to our hospital for a few years, and we want their offices to become more patient friendly," Hehemann said.
Amongst these renovations is the hospital's desire to expand their property. Specifically, the hospital is interested in shutting down and adding onto Poplar Street, which would effectively re-route traffic throughout Oxford. There is no timetable set for this expansion, as it is still in the planning stages, according to Hehemann.
"We still need to figure out financing and phasing, as well as the proposal to the [City] Council," Hehemann said. "I am optimistic our plan will be approved, and I have no reason to think the council will turn it down."
David Prytherch is an associate professor of geography at Miami University and also chairs the Oxford Planning Commission. He believes residents will be in favor of the proposed changes.
"I think in general what the hospital is proposing is an expansion that everyone in Oxford supports," Prytherch said.
The only issue the Planning Commission has, and what Prytherch believes the City Council will have the only objections to, is the potential closure of Poplar Street.
"Ideally, we would like the hospital to expand, at the same time keeping these streets open to public traffic," Prytherch said.
Nevertheless, Prytherch believes the proposal is solid and the compromise the two parties reached in a span of three meetings since June is adequate.
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"To boil it down, everyone supports the expansion, but the question for the planning commission thinks it should expand and whether or not that brings about the closure of Poplar Street," Prytherch said.
The thought of renovation to McCullough-Hyde is exciting for students, but expansion raises some issues.
"I think renovation needs to happen and it will only benefit the community," Senior Emily Cameron said. "Expansion onto Poplar Street, on the other hand, is definitely a more difficult idea to propose. The street is used very often and its closure would affect all of Oxford."
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