UC Health Emergency Department

New Markets Tax Credit Financing Supports Expansion of Emergency Department Services for Cincinnati Region

New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) financing has enabled UC Healthcare System

(UC Health) to expand its Emergency Department to meet the needs of the
greater Cincinnati region and the low-income population it serves. The current
Emergency Department was designed and built in the 1980s and poses
capacity, architectural, and clinical functionality limitations that adversely
impact emergency care and preparedness. The Emergency Department, which
is located in a severely distressed neighborhood that experiences a poverty
rate of 51.3% and a median family income equal to 57% of the applicable
area median family income, is the region’s only adult Level I trauma center
and treats the most severe and complex cases, including victims of serious
accidents and injuries.

Finance Fund provided $8MM of federal NMTC allocation and $2.56MM of Ohio
NMTC allocation to the project. The Community Builders provided $7MM of
federal NMTC allocation and Capital One, the tax credit investor, provided an
additional $1MM of federal NMTC allocation.

This expansion will maximize modularity to provide flexibility of space that
ensures implementation of best practices, improve the standard of patient
care, accommodate surges in patient numbers due to a crisis, and decrease
morbidity and mortality. UC Health anticipates the 197,459 square foot facility
will serve up to 90,000 patient visits annually, and that half of these visits will
be from low-income patients. The Emergency Department will offer increased
specialized programming to screen patients for unmet psychosocial needs,
mental health, and substance use disorders.

 The relationship between UCHealth and the University of Cincinnati will
provide fertile ground for expanded clinical research conducted across the
spectrum of patient cases at the Emergency Deposit, as well as improved
emergency medicine training for military medical personnel and regional EMS
providers.

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