DAYTON DAILY NEWS
SPRINGBORO — The audience briefly cleared the newly named CareFlight Field on Tuesday so an emergency helicopter on hand for the press conference announcing the partnership between Miami Valley Hospital and the Springboro Community School district could respond to a car crash involving a trapped motorist in Franklin.
Officials then took turns praising the deal renaming and renovating the high school football field and constructing a $9 million building for medical and school use on school complex grounds behind the stadium.
„In cooperation with Miami Valley Hospital, Springboro Community Schools will bring a new kind of health care to Springboro. This pilot will hopefully set a new standard for health care across the state,“ Superintendent David Baker said.
The project will be financed through a state fund set up for school projects, at a 4.6 percent interest rate, school officials said.
About $1.9 million will fund installing artificial turf, adding 1,000 seats, rehabbing the press box and making other upgrades to the high school stadium in time for next fall’s football season.
Football teams will prepare in new locker and weight rooms in the 40,000 square foot building to be built behind the stadium.
In addition to coaches‘ offices and other school facilities, the building will also house doctors and specialists from Miami Valley Hospital, SureCare Medical Center, Fair Oaks Orthopedists and the Atrium Medical Center, the new Middletown Regional Hospital, two exits south on Interstate 75. Sports medicine experts will be on hand for practices and games, said Mary Boosalis, president and CEO of the Miami Valley Hospital.
Referring to where the helicopter sat before the emergency call, Boosalis said, „The familiar helicopter is CareFlight’s most visible symbol. But at a deeper level, CareFlight symbolizes our broader commitment to provide a superior level of service to the community. It is a fitting name to represent this partnership that will take health care to a new level here on this very site.“
While Mason reached a partnership with the Middletown hospital in building new community facilities, Miami Valley Hospital officials said the Springboro project provides a broader range of services.
Springboro school officials described the partnership as unprecedented in Ohio.
While Springboro will carry the loan, the hospital will make payments ranging from $720,000 in 2007 to $1.1 million in 2029, officials said.
For 22 years, the hospital secures naming rights across the school district coveted by other area health care providers.
The school district gets „a great stadium at no cost,“ Baker said, as a banner advertising CareFlight Field was lowered from the press box roof.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2261 or [email protected].