OhioHealth moves to add another hospital

OhioHealth has expanded its footprint over the past few years, and the health system is moving closer to adding another hospital.

OhioHealth is looking to finalize an agreement that would bring Fairfield Medical Center into the system. Fairfield operates a 222-bed nonprofit hospital in Lancaster, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus. OhioHealth is based in Columbus.

The two organizations signed a non-binding letter of intent to explore a potential merger. Now, OhioHealth says the two systems are getting closer. The boards of both OhioHealth and Fairfield agreed in September to move forward in the process.

Regulators must still approve the transaction, but if the deal is finalized, Fairfield would become the 17th hospital in the OhioHealth system.

“In September, the board of directors of both organizations agreed to take the next step in the process that may lead to Fairfield becoming a full member of OhioHealth. Both parties are proceeding towards finalization of their arrangement, which includes completing any necessary government filings,” OhioHealth said in a statement.

OhioHealth has added four hospitals to the system over the past three years. Morrow County Hospital, a 25-bed critical access hospital, joined OhioHealth in January. OhioHealth had been managing the hospital for years.

In addition, OhioHealth also added two other hospitals - Southeastern Medical Center and Van Wert Hospital - to the system.

The system opened Pickerington Methodist Hospital, a 96-bed hospital, in December 2023.

OhioHealth reported $7 billion in revenue for the 2025 fiscal year. In addition to its 16 hospitals, OhioHealth operates more than 200 ambulatory care sites in 50 counties across the state.

The health system has a stable outlook and an “AA+” rating from Fitch Ratings. OhioHealth enjoys “exceptionally strong credit profile as indicated by more than $6.1 billion of liquid funds, very favorable leverage metrics, and consistently very strong operating cash flow,” Fitch said in a report last month.

Ohio has seen a host of mergers and acquisitions in its hospital market in the past couple of years.

TriHealth, based in Cincinnati, reached an agreement to acquire Clinton Memorial Hospital, a 140-bed hospital in Wilmington, Ohio. TriHealth completed the acquisition in September, and the facility is now known as TriHealth Clinton Regional Hospital.

In October, the Health Assurance Transformation LLC, a subsidiary of General Catalyst, completed the acquisition of Summa Health, a nonprofit system based in Akron, Ohio that operates two acute care hospitals.

• Read more: After a slow start in 2025, hospital merger activity has been rising