CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — Community leaders, health care professionals and project partners gathered Sunday, October 25, for the official groundbreaking of the Great Seal Medical Campus in Chillicothe, a development its founders say will transform access to advanced medical care for Ross County and the surrounding south-central Ohio region.
The ceremony began at 3 p.m. at 110 Cohen’s Way, off River Road, with a ceremonial groundbreaking at about 3:45 p.m. The project, founded by Dr. Brian S. Cohen of Cohen Orthopedic, has been more than six years in the making and reflects, organizers said, years of planning, partnerships and difficult decisions.
At the heart of the campus will be an approximately 83,000-square-foot medical facility bringing advanced surgical care, diagnostic imaging, urgent care, rehabilitation and multispecialty physician services together under one roof, rather than scattered across separate sites patients must travel between.
The planned building includes a 20,000-square-foot surgery center with three advanced operating rooms and a cardiac catheterization laboratory, 10,000 square feet of diagnostic imaging and urgent care — including MRI, CT and vascular and cardiac testing — and 53,000 square feet of multispecialty medical offices.
Those offices are expected to bring together physicians and specialists in orthopedics, total joint surgery, spine care, hand surgery, ear, nose and throat care, vascular surgery, general surgery and cardiology, along with physical and occupational therapy and additional services. Plans also emphasize infection prevention technology and operating room design intended to reduce contamination risks.
“For more than six years, Great Seal Medical Campus has been more than a vision. It has been a commitment,” Cohen said. “A commitment to make healthcare better, safer, more accessible, and closer to home.” Cohen, who has cared for patients in south-central Ohio for more than 25 years, added at the ceremony: “Today, we break ground on buildings. But what we are really building is trust, opportunity, access, and a healthier future for generations of families.”
For patients and families across the region, the practical promise is distance: specialized procedures, imaging and follow-up care available in Chillicothe instead of requiring trips to larger cities, allowing patients to remain closer to family and support systems during treatment and recovery.