Mount Carmel West was a primary care hospital located in Franklinton, Columbus, Ohio on a 37-acre campus. Mount Carmel West was the oldest hospital in the Mount Carmel Health System, founded in 1886 by the Sisters of the Holy Cross. The hospital was situated between Ohio State Route 16 and U.S. Route 62, and accessible from exits on Interstate 70 and Ohio State Route 315. The Mount Carmel College of Nursing is located on hospital grounds. U.S. News & World Report regionally ranked Mount Carmel East and West Hospitals the number 18 best performing among hospitals in Ohio and high performing in four specialties and procedures.
Mount Carmel West was a tertiary hospital with many specialties located on its grounds, but in late 2016 a $46 million plan was announced to transform it into an outpatient facility with a fully functioning emergency department in a new location on the premises. The inpatient services will be moved to a new location under construction in Grove City, while the Level II Trauma Center will be moved to the existing Mount Carmel East hospital near Reynoldsburg. The majority of the hospital will be demolished with demolition plans to be completed in 2020. This will see the expansion of the College of Nursing and closure of the inpatient Psychiatry unit with it being moved to a new facility near Mount Carmel East.
History
What would become Mount Carmel West was first known as Hawkes Hospital of Mt. Carmel, and was founded by Dr. W. B. Hawkes (1812–1883). Before the building was completed, Dr. Hawkes died and was buried in Green Lawn Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio. Dr. John W. Hamilton (1823–1898) was tasked to finish construction, and secured the services of the Sisters of the Holy Cross to operate the hospital.
The hospital was formally opened in 1886. The hospital was opened intending to serve the needs of infants and women. In 1906, a second building adjoining the old one containing a chapel and 120 additional patient rooms was started. The Training School for Nurses was opened in 1903 and included eight sisters in the first graduating class. It has since become the Mount Carmel College of Nursing. It was not until 1921 that an additional 120 patient rooms were added on as well as 20 rooms with recreation halls, three classrooms, and a library to help to the Mount Carmel School of Nursing which is what the nursing school was known as at the time.
From 2014 to 2018, one of the hospital's doctors, William Husel, was to alleged to have overdosed 35 patients at Mount Carmel West and Mount Carmel St. Ann's. Husel was originally charged with the murder of 25 of them, for prescribing large doses of fentanyl, administered by nurses with no oversight. Eleven of those charges were dropped. On April 20, 2022, William Husel was acquitted of the other 14 charges. The hospital fired the doctor, paid $13 million to families in settlements, and the hospital's CEO and chief clinical officer resigned. About 20 employees were fired over the incidents.
In late 2016, a plan was agreed that will begin in 2019 of the transformation of Mount Carmel West from a full inpatient hospital to a facility based on outpatient services while still retaining a full-service emergency department. Mount Carmel Health System plans to begin demolishing the majority of Mount Carmel West hospital by spring 2019 after moving inpatient services will be moved to a new 210-bed hospital being constructed in Grove City. The Emergency department is being rebuilt in a new location. The College of Nursing will also be expanded. All planned work should be finished by 2020.
Mount Carmel College of Nursing
The Mount Carmel College of Nursing was founded by the Sisters of the Holy Cross in 1903. It has since become one of the largest baccalaureate nursing programs in the state of Ohio. It is still located to this day on the campus of Mount Carmel West. Both freshmen and sophomores are required to live on campus with both coed dorms and single student apartments. Today, it is a private, coeducational and Catholic church affiliated institution with around 1100 full-time students.
It was accredited with the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA) until that body was dissolved in 2014. It has since maintained accreditation with NCA's successor organization, the Higher Learning Commission. The courses offered on campus include a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Nursing Administration, Family Nurse Practitioner and Nursing Education, Master of Science in Adult Health, and a Dietetic Internship. During the 100 year anniversary of the College of Nursing it was announced that a Graduate program would be started with a Master of Science degree.