Coalition hosts petition signing for West Dayton hospital

DAYTON, Ohio ( WDTN ) — In West Dayton, community leaders are gearing up for the upcoming election.

The Clergy Community Coalition is still pushing to make healthcare services more accessible after the closing of Good Samaritan Hospital in 2018. Now, they want to put it on the ballot.

The clergy community coalition wants to get their petition on the November ballots for voters to decide if they should have a public hospital on the west side of Dayton.

“So it’s a devastating effect, a great effect in that whole community,” said Bishop Richard Cox, President of the Clergy Community Coalition.

Bishop Cox has been a voice in the Dayton community rallying for a new full-service hospital to be established since Good Samaritan Hospital closed and was torn down in 2018.

Local leaders say the lack of accessibility to adequate health services in their neighborhood has had a negative impact on the community, citing limited services offered and proximity as barriers for local residents.

“That it hurt people’s individual families who would have been living to this day had their hospital remained open. And so it had a devastating effect in our community,” said Bishop Cox.

The Clergy Community Coalition has a goal of collecting at least 1200 signatures before presenting their petition to the Dayton City Commission. The proposed ballot issue would call for a property tax levy, with the money generated by that levy would help build and maintain the new hospital.

Therefore, the reestablishing of a full-service hospital will open the door for greater employment and aid in the revitalization of our local economy in the area of health care.

Former employees of the hospital say they want to see a new public hospital built on the west side of Dayton.

“It means a lot. Like we loved Good Sam. It was right there, like you can’t miss it. Really big hospital. So, I think it would mean a lot for a lot of people,” said Amber Chapel, a former Good Samaritan Hospital employee.

The group will host a drive-thru petition signing event this Sunday at St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church starting at 1:30 p.m.

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