ProMedica

A century-old steam plant in downtown Toledo that once supplied heat to numerous adjacent buildings is now a state-of-the-art office space for a major health care organization. This is a new and exciting chapter for Toledo’s economic development. In August 2017, nearly two years after announcing a major consolidation and revitalization project, ProMedica began moving nearly 1,000 employees into its new headquarters on Toledo’s downtown riverfront.

Established in 1986, ProMedica is a nonprofit health care organization, located in Toledo, with an expansive network that includes 13 hospitals, more than 2,300 physicians and 17,000 employees. With 332 sites treating 4.7 million patients annually, ProMedica offers a full range of diagnostic, medical and surgical specialties in areas such as emergency medicine and trauma, behavioral health, heart and vascular care, oncology, orthopedics, neurology, and women and children’s services.

With 17 administrative offices spread throughout the region, ProMedica began looking in 2015 for ways to consolidate all its offices into one central location. Hospital executives wanted to maximize efficiencies for their operations while also providing a positive work environment for their employees. The search focused on both Ohio and Michigan, where ProMedica hospitals and health care sites are based.

In keeping with the company mission of serving its community, ProMedica recognized a unique opportunity to transform Toledo’s downtown while also meeting its corporate objectives. ProMedica committed $60 million to revitalize an abandoned steam plant, constructed in 1896, to renovate a former KeyBank building and to reinvigorate Promenade Park along the riverfront.

JobsOhio, Regional Growth Partnership (RGP), the City of Toledo and the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority collaborated to secure federal, state and local support in the forms of tax credits and low-interest loans and grants to support historic preservation, new development and job creation. ProMedica has committed to maximize future opportunities for local companies that will spur additional economic development.

"Our move to downtown will help ProMedica be more connected, efficient and effective as an organization," says ProMedica President and CEO Randy Oostra. “At the same time, we hope to serve as a catalyst in the ongoing revitalization of downtown Toledo.”

According to RGP, many credit ProMedica’s decision to move its corporate headquarters downtown as a major catalyst for further development. A conservative analysis recently estimated that approximately $337 million has been invested in downtown Toledo in just the past couple of years.