WARREN, Ohio – Mercy Health – St. Joseph Warren Hospital staff members Thursday blessed and signed a steel beam that will be used in the construction of a new $50 million 24/7 emergency care facility in Champion.
“The Mercy Health – Champion Emergency Care Center is well underway,” said Char Gardiner, president of St. Joseph Warren Hospital. “If you drive by the site between Kent State University’s Trumbull campus and [Trumbull Career & Technical Center], you’ll see a building coming out of the ground. Structural steel is up. Massaro [Construction] and the entire team are actively working on getting that thing weather tight.”
She also noted the beam and much of the steel for the project is being fabricated at nearby Livi Steel. Gardiner said local trades and schools are involved in building the facility, which will serve not only as an emergency room but also as an advanced imaging and laboratory center.
The Champion Emergency Care Center project is part of a long-term strategic plan that predates both times Insight Hospital & Medical Center Trumbull in Warren has been closed over the past year.
Dr. John Luellen, Mercy Health’s president for the state of Ohio, said the need for the new facility has never been greater.
“As we walked in today, I think we all experienced the same thing,” Luellen said. “The hospital is full; the parking lots are full; and we need to continue to grow to fill those gaps in care for emergency services.”
The groundbreaking for the Champion Emergency Care Center was held in late summer. Gardiner and Luellen said the project is on schedule – or maybe ahead of schedule. It is slated to open in winter 2026.
During Thursday’s ceremony to bless the beam, Rev. Denise Lewis, the chaplain supervisor at St. Joseph, reminded the staff waiting to sign it that the beam will be there as a memorial to all their dedication and contributions to their patients.
“This beam is a beam of hope,” Lewis said, adding that Mercy Health always bases its expansion decisions on the needs of the community. “They heard the cries of the community and they responded.”
Dr. James Kravec, chief clinical officer for Mercy Health – Lorain and Youngstown, was among those who attended both the Mercy Health Behavioral Hospital opening Tuesday and the beam signing Thursday.
Kravec said both facilities are additional opportunities to fill the gaps in care Mercy Health has recognized in the community.
“We have walk-in care. We have primary care, specialty care. We have hospitals, and we have emergency departments,” Kravec said. “But this expands that capacity. We know that there is a need in the community, and we’re here to fill that need.”
Pictured at top: From left are Char Gardiner, president of St. Joseph Warren Hospital; Dr. John Luellen, Mercy Health’s president for the state of Ohio; Martin Tursky, chief operation officer for Mercy Health – Lorain and Youngstown; Jim Armour, vice president of mission for Mercy Health – Lorain and Youngstown; Dr. James Kravec, chief clinical officer for Mercy Health – Lorain and Youngstown; Dr. Jill Uberti, vice president of medical affairs and an emergency room physician at St. Joseph; and Stephen Suszczynski, emergency department nursing manager for Mercy Health.