By Michael D. Clark
The Cincinnati Enquirer

MIDDLETOWN - Negotiators for the city and its hospital have reached financial agreement on Middletown Regional Hospital's much-anticipated move.

Both sides say it will fuel economic growth by adding more than 800 jobs and creating an adjacent medical campus.

Mayor David Schiavone revealed Monday that the city and hospital have come to a preliminary agreement to be unveiled at today's City Council meeting.

He described the proposed plan for financing the new hospital in the city's eastern sector as "key to the city's future."

Mr. Schiavone would not release details of the agreement, which has the hospital moving to the area of Ohio 122 east of Interstate 75, but said hospital officials have agreed to spend from $150 million to $250 million on the new medical center.

He said the city's investment will range from $25 million to $30 million spread over 10 years. The investment will be made financially viable by the projected addition of more than 800 to the hospital's 1,200 employees once the facility opens in 2008.

While the new location of the hospital, which is Middletown's second-largest employer after AK Steel, will be determined later, Mr. Schiavone said he was confident City Council will approve the plan during its Dec. 17 meeting.

The governing board for the hospital also will vote on the plan, said hospital vice president Larry JamesHe also declined to discuss the preliminary agreement, but described the shorter-than-expected negotiations - which began in late September - as "cordial and productive."

"We've come a long way in a short amount of time," Mr. James said.

The current hospital is on 26 acres in a residential section of the city.

The new one would sit on 225 acres and would be the first full-service hospital in Warren County.

Plans call for the hospital to be surrounded by a health and technology campus that eventually would employ 1,125 workers.

City Council will review, but not vote on, the proposed plan at its 5 p.m. meeting today.

E-mail mclark@enquirer.com