It’s been roughly two weeks since East Ohio Regional Hospital reopened in downtown Martins Ferry, providing much needed jobs, tax revenue, and, most importantly, another quality healthcare option.
It’s still too early to quantify its impact as far as the city of Martins Ferry is concerned—or the city’s coffers—but with emergency and routine medical services once again available in town and on this side of the Interstate 70 construction and traffic, it’s certainly a boon psychologically for the town.
“I think it’s too soon to realize the true impact, but the biggest thing is the city is realizing now is the peace of mind of having the hospital back,” Councilman Jack Regis Sr. noted.
It’s been a major boost to the Martins Ferry EMS. While the westbound lanes of the highway were under repair, getting back from Wheeling Hospital in a timely fashion became a challenge. Now, with detours getting too the facilities, previous minutes in an emergency situation would be wasted fighting the detours.
Now for EMS crews along the river in Eastern Ohio, an emergency trip doesn’t necessarily require the scenic route to Medical Park.
“From the few (EMS members) I’ve talked to, it’s so much easier for them,” Regis said. “The biggest thing they like is the ease of going to East Ohio and being available for back-to-back calls.
“There was a safety factor for the citizens. When they were clear over at Medical Park and needed to get back for another call, sometimes you’d have to end up dispatching mutual aid. That’s not happening nearly as much now as they are able to get back quickly and handle more calls.”
Increasing the Tax Base
Regis admitted that balancing the city’s finances is a constant, never-ending battle. He, his fellow Council members, and the mayor are always looking for ways to increase the tax revenue without placing further burden on city residents.
“We’re always looking for more development,” Regis said. “It helps the tax base and the city, and the only way to do that is bringing more development in.”
Mayor John Davies noted in a previous LedeNews.com story about the multiple options for development in town, from downtown to the industrial park.
Regis doesn’t believe the city is fixating on promoting one piece of property over an another, but rather, it’s an all-out push to get interested eyes on all property and development options in the Purple City.
The good news is with 400-plus employees working inside East Ohio Regional Hospital, taxes will start flowing back to the city, along with revenues from increased water sales.
Yes, the hospital did receive the tax break incentive before officially making the push to reopen. But that’s still 25 percent of income from the hospital itself and any employees directly under East Ohio’s umbrella.
Any of the outlying services will be taxed at the full rate.
Up Next?
Things certainly appear to be on an upward trend in Martins Ferry.
“The new Dollar General opened, the new Dollar Tree, and Belmont Brewerks are doing well and bringing people into downtown,” Regis said.
“One of our big issues right now is the dilapidated residences and structures. It seems to be a never-ending battle to get those torn down.
“Where do you come up with the funding for it? It’s expensive. We’re continuing to press forward with that and looking at ideas of how to fund it.”
One option is to put the cost of demolition on a particular piece of property’s tax bill. But often that only amounts to piling a larger amount onto a debt the city will never see repaid.
“The people that let the property get that way aren’t paying the taxes, so all we’re doing is putting money there, knowing we’ll probably never see it,” Regis said. “They already owe so much in back taxes; they don’t make enough to pay off the debt when they do sell it.
“It makes it a tough, tough venture.”
Street Department Working Overtime
With emergency medical care available again in downtown, it further increases the need for well-maintained streets in the event of severe weather.
That, coupled with a snowfall this winter larger than in years past, has the street department employees getting a lot more hours.
“The street department and the employees down there have done a great, great job,” Regis lauded. “I just can’t say enough about them for what they’ve done with the roads this year.
“And fortunately, our salt supply is holding up well. We’ve been blessed there. The weather hasn’t helped out any, but we had a good supply to start with.”
