Suburban Life 03/03/21

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SUBURBAN LIFE Your Community Press newspaper serving Deer Park, Kenwood, Madeira, Sycamore Township and other Northeast Cincinnati neighborhoods

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3, 2021 | BECAUSE COMMUNITY MATTERS | PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK

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TriHealth to build heart facility at Bethesda North Anne Saker Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

Lifelong Cincinnatians Harold and Eugenia Thomas have watched the transformation of the old horse farm in Montgomery into the sprawling Bethesda North Hospital. The couple will fuel new growth there with a $10 million donation for TriHealth’s long-envisioned heart institute. The gift follows an earlier $10 million donation from the Indian Hill couple for a cancer hospital at Bethesda North, named for the Thomases and opened in January 2020. With other gifts, the Thomases have donated a total of $25 million to the hospital. “Little by little, I’ve been working with them a good 15 years,” Harold Thomas told The Enquirer. “Our philosophy is, basically, to help as many people as possible.” “When I remember the original BNorth, my aunt lived up there, and I remember how happy we were, so excited to have a hospital so close,” said Eugenia Thomas. “It’s just nice to see all this progress and know how much good we’re doing for everybody, and how many more people we’ll be helping once the heart hospital is working.” TriHealth planned to break ground Feb. 25 for the TriHealth Heart Hospital, a dedicated facility in the works since 2018 when the hospital system moved its groundbreaking heart surgery program at Good Samaritan Hospital to Bethesda North. The $85 million project will add another 40,000 square feet of clinical space to Bethesda North and modernize 80,000 square feet of existing space. Construction of the fi rst phase is expected to take 18 months for an opening in mid-2020. The TriHealth announcement comes a month after Bon Secours Mercy Health unveiled plans for a $156 million 60-bed hospital and medical offi ce building in Kings Mills in Warren County at the Interstate 71 interchange immediately north of Kings Island. Mark Clement, TriHealth’s president and chief executive offi cer, said consolidating the system’s heart programs improved outcomes for patients because the cardiac caregivers get lots of practice. The program is the only one in the region, Clement said, “to earn a three-star rating – the highest quality rating – from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons last year, placing it among the top 10% of cardiac surgery programs

Eugenia and Harold Thomas have donated a total of $25 million to TriHealth's Bethesda North Hospital, including a $10 million gift for a new heart care facility there. Groundbreaking is scheduled for Feb. 25. The Thomases also gave $10 million to TriHealth for the new cancer hospital at Bethesda North that opened in January 2020. ANNE SAKER/THE ENQUIRER

nationally for mortality and clinical outcomes.” Bethesda Foundation President Andy Swallow thanked the Thomases for a “transformational gift.” Harold Thomas built his family’s business to become Sysco, the world’s largest major food distributor-supplier. Later he was a professor of marketing at Wilmington College. He and Eugenia married fi ve years ago after each experienced the death of a longtime spouse to cancer. Harold Thomas said, “There are a lot of philanthropists that prefer to give to, say, the art museum, which is fi ne, nothing wrong with the art museum, but to me, it’s more important to help people than it is to help an art museum. Now the art museum wouldn’t like me for that, but that’s just, you know, my feeling.” Editor’s note: Information included refl ects this article’s original publication date – Feb. 21. Visit Cincinnati.com for possible updates.

TriHealth plans to break ground Feb. 25 on a dedicated heart facility at its Bethesda North Hospital. The project has a $10 million gift from Harold and Eugenia Thomas of Indian Hill. PROVIDED

After more than 50 years, Blue Ash Chili moving to new location Briana Rice | Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY NETWORK

Blue Ash Chili on Kenwood Road since 1969 has been a Blue Ash landmark. TONY JONES/THE ENQUIRER

How to submit news

Blue Ash Chili is getting a new home, but the new location is not far. “While we are sad to leave the historic location we’ve occupied for over 50 years, we are excited about what is to come,” a Facebook post said. The post said that the circumstances are beyond their control and that properties around the corner of Kenwood and Cooper have been sold for redevelopment. “The Blue Ash community is so important to who we are, we can’t imagine our fl agship store not being in the heart of Blue Ash,” the post said. Blue Ash Chili is building a new location next door to CVS pharmacy. The new location will be open by the end of March, according to the Facebook post. The new location will have more space and more parking. According to the post, “While not our choice, we’re excited to be part of the future of Blue Ash, and we look forward to serving you in our new location for the NEXT 50 years!”

To submit news and photos to the Community Press/Recorder, visit the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Share website: http://bit.ly/2FjtKoF

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Blue Ash Chili's 3-way and cheese coney. MEG VOGEL/THE ENQUIRER

Vol. 57 No. 52 © 2021 The Community Recorder ALL RIGHTS RESERVED $1.00

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