Dayton residents and members of the Clergy Community Coalition are pushing for movement on a new public hospital.
Last November Dayton voters approved Issue 9 to create a new public hospital in West Dayton.
The 1-mill levy calls for an ER, lab services, a maternity ward and doctors' offices. Supporters have said the nearly $20 million it will generate over 10 years is intended to be seed money for land and construction.
Clergy Community Coalition members and residents spoke at the Dayton City Commission meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026.
The group believes the start up of the hospital has stalled, coalition member Nancy Kiehl said.
“Our concern was that they were going to hold a second ballot initiative, and that second ballot would basically cancel the first one and it would make it so that the mayor and the board of trustees would not exist, that the commissioners would take over and that they would hire a nonprofit," Kiehl said.
In January, Dayton’s law department presented two options to fulfill the levy obligations. One involved contracting with a nonprofit to run the public hospital, which would require an additional ballot initiative. A second involved creating a mayor-appointed board to oversee the hospital.
The levy stipulates a board that includes the mayor and 10 others specific members from different backgrounds. Commissioners Darius Beckham, Chris Shaw and Matt Joseph said they’re awaiting a list of potential appointees from Mayor Shenise Turner-Sloss, who didn’t attend the commission meeting due to travel.
Commissioner Darryl Fairchild recused himself, citing a potential conflict of interest due to his employment at Dayton Children’s.
Kiehl said she and other coalition members were heartened by what they heard.
“With the voices that were heard tonight and there were some excellent testimonials that this would push the commission and the mayor to move with a little bit more diligence and forwardness,” she said.
