LEBANON — Political posturing over Middletown Regional Hospital's proposed move to Warren County reached a fever pitch Tuesday as a county commissioner pronounced the project “dead.”

        But a state senator from Middletown vowed to press the hospital's case with Gov. Bob Taft.

        Middletown Regional announced plans six months ago to replace its 84-year-old McKnight Drive hospital with a $115 million health and technology complex at Greentree and Union roads in western Warren County. Turtlecreek Township trustees said they'd go along with the plan — which hinges on Middletown annexing their territory — if the city agreed to share revenue.

        Negotiations, however, have fallen apart, Warren County Commissioner Mike Kilburn said Tuesday.

        “I think this project is dead,” Mr. Kilburn said. “They have not been able to address concerns of Turtlecreek Township.”

        Commissioner Larry Crisenbery said: “People in Warren County do not want Middletown annexation. Period.”

        Middletown Regional Vice President Larry James said the hospital had no comment on the county's position. “We don't get involved with these types of statements because it's just part of the process. People are politicking.”

        The commissioners wrote a letter Tuesday to Ohio's Transportation Review Advisory Council about Middletown's request for an Interstate 75 interchange at Greentree — another stipulation of the project.

        It's “premature and troubling” for the city make a request for an area that's not yet in its limits, the letter said, and an interchange there is not part of long-range plans for the region.

        State Rep. Tom Raga, R-Deerfield Township, says he favors the idea of Middletown Regional coming to Warren County, but shares commissioners' concerns about the hospital's position.

        Butler County officials, on the other hand, are strongly supporting the hospital's plans — including the interchange.

        “I think the future economic viability of Middletown Regional Hospital is tied to a direct interstate connection,” state Sen. Scott Nein, R-Middletown, said Tuesday.

        So far, the state Department of Transportation and the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Council of Governments both have resisted pushes to speed approval of the interchange.

        Mr. Nein's response: “I think we need to move to the governor.”

        Warren County residents would benefit from the move at least as much as Butler County residents, he said, noting that Warren County has no full-fledged hospital.

        “This is not a yours-and-mine project,” Mr. Nein said. “This is one we all ought to be able to rally around. We will all benefit.”

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