Cincinnati Children's Hospital expansion appears poised to move forward

Community leaders in Avondale want to stop a plan for Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center to expand in their neighborhood. With a final vote a day away, that doesn't appear likely. The hospital is planning a new emergency room and 10-story patient tower that would fill much of the block bordered by Erkenbrecher, Burnet, Hearne and Wilson avenues, north of its two existing patient towers. It also includes a 1,100-car parking garage expansion. The expansion would cost up to $650 million, create up to 600 new jobs and accommodate a 26 percent increase since 2009 in the number of children spending the night at the hospital. But it also will require rerouting Erkenbrecher and closing Hearne between Wilson and Burnet, destroying some homes.