Tuesday evening, Circleville Council acted to allow voters to decide on a big change in the local hospital system.
Tom Spring explained the resolution would allow Berger Health System to become a nonprofit, instead of being owned and managed by the city and county.
He says their Berger Health System is one of only two "municipal hospitals" remaining in Ohio - the other being in Wooster.
Berger President and CEO Tim Colburn was in the audience. He explained the "why": to find a larger partner to withstand the current changes in the industry.
He said that may be OhioHealth, which Berger is working with now...or it could be another choice - as long as local health care will continue.
Colburn said this is different from the failed attempt to make the same change in Berger in 2008, because the health industry has changed so much...and, threatens to change even more.
Kevin Coleman regularly reports on Chillicothe & Circleville councils and local culture