Former EORH property draws no bids at final auction
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MARTINS FERRY - The second and final auction for the former East Ohio Regional Hospital property saw no bids.
On Wednesday morning, the Belmont County Sheriff’s Office held the final auction for the property in the conference room at the Belmont County Jail, which was completely empty besides media and representatives of the Belmont County Treasurer’s Office and Sheriff’s Office.
Belmont County Sheriff’s Office civil deputy Robert Ney said that he believes nobody bid on the property because nobody wants to pay the back taxes that are owed.
The hospital has approximately $2.1 million in back taxes that have accrued over the last few years.
It originally closed its doors in 2019 after being purchased by Alecto Healthcare Services, a California-based company that also bought and closed Ohio Valley Medical Center in Wheeling.
Dr. John Johnson then purchased the hospital in 2020 and reopened it in 2021, but the resurrection was short-lived.
In March 2025, after dozens of employees filed police reports with the Martins Ferry Police Department, claiming both unpaid insurance claims and unpaid wages, the hospital closed its doors.
Since its closure, vandalism, theft and break-ins have all occurred at the site.
Martins Ferry Police Department has made multiple arrests at the site involving alleged copper theft, trespassing and vandalism. Authorities have said suspects have repeatedly entered the sprawling building to strip wiring and other materials, while officers also have found evidence that people had been staying inside the vacant hospital.
Treasurer Katherine J. Kelich said that the property will be forfeited to the state of Ohio after Belmont County Court of Common Pleas signs off on the transfer.
She added that after the court signs off on the transfer, the Belmont County Land Reutilization Corporation, which is frequently referred to as the Land Bank, would then have the opportunity to obtain the property.
"I think there’s a lot of conversations that can be had over why it wasn’t bid on. Maybe there isn’t anyone readily available to go in and make the repairs to the property that are necessary," Kelich said. "It could be that a hospital isn’t interested in the property. We don’t know if one is or isn’t, but they could be looking at that. And right off the bat, you’re looking at over $2 million repairs because we have all known that the copper was stolen from the building."
She added that the building is very large, which makes the list of potential bidders smaller.
"It's just like what’s your purpose with it if you’re not getting a hospital? What are you doing? And so who’s readily available to take this building, make the necessary repairs and then open up?" Kelich said. "It’s a very large building, it’s not just like some place that’s in need of a few offices."
She added that no testing has been done by her office to determine whether or not there's anything in the building that would declare the property to be a brownfield.
"I think the most important part is to just recognize that there’s a lot of different components to this. The lack of copper wiring and whether or not it’s a brownfield, I could not answer at this point in time," Kelich said. "That would be something that we would test for if the land bank did actually obtain it."
She added that the Ohio Department of Health previously tested the site and confirmed that there was some radioactive material, but her office was not involved in the testing.