$50 million hospital project planned for Center Grove area

A new kind of health care facility is coming to one of Johnson County’s fastest growing areas and is part of a $50 million project announced on Tuesday afternoon.

Franciscan Health announced it is opening a microhospital in the Center Grove area, off of State Road 135. The facility will include eight inpatient rooms, as well as an emergency department with 10 exam rooms, full imaging services such as ultrasounds and X-rays, and a lab.

The microhospital will be part of a 85,000-square-feet medical pavilion for outpatient family and internal medicine, planned for just south of Stones Crossing Road.

Construction on the estimated $50 million project is expected to begin in March 2017, with the facility completed by late fall 2018.

“Franciscan Health is committed to providing high quality healthcare with convenient access to those we serve,” said President and CEO James Callaghan in a news release. “White River Township in Johnson County has experienced dynamic growth in recent years and we have been researching and planning the development of a medical complex that best serves the overall needs of people in this area and beyond.”

Within the new complex, patients will find 58 exam rooms for varying medical services. The design will allow doctors and nurses to work more collaboratively to treat people.

A pediatric wing with 16 exam rooms and a 15-room “flex clinic,” available to specialty physicians on a rotating basis, will also be part of the medical pavilion.

Specific areas for lab work, rooms for blood-draws and imaging services such as ultrasounds, CT scans and MRIs will be available as well.

With the adjoining microhospital, Franciscan Health can provide many of the same services available at its Indianapolis location, only more convenient to the growing population of northern Johnson County, said Robert J. Brody, senior vice president of ambulatory services and chief operating officer for Franciscan Alliance.

The microhospital facility will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

This story will be updated.