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.