Local health care providers are learning that bigger is not always better.
As the population and the needs of people change, area health networks are adapting to the way they treat people. Smaller, emergency-specific “microhospitals” are gaining traction to supplement larger health facilities in the area.
The facilities can be built in a shorter period of time, for much less money than a full-service hospital building. Smaller buildings also can be more strategically located in areas where changing populations offer new patients and markets.
With one such facility already announced by Franciscan Health, and two others potentially being developed in the area, officials hope that these microhospitals can fill a void that exists in Johnson County health care.
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Click here to purchase photos from this gallery“Right now, there are a lot of outpatient locations scattered throughout the greater metropolitan area. There is a lot fewer inpatient services and emergency room services,” said Keith Lauter, chief financial officer of Franciscan Health. “Those are the two aspects that are going to be more centrally located for individuals living in that area.”
Microhospitals are a concept that have taken root in the U.S. over the past two or three years. The facilities are fully licensed and function like scaled-down versions of traditional hospitals, offering emergency room services and about 10 overnight beds for patients who need more comprehensive treatment. Certain locations include services such as imaging and laboratory work.
The microhospital trend has been centered in Texas, Arizona and Colorado, but as the model has worked, the facilities have migrated to other areas of the country, including to Indiana.
Franciscan Health announced in early November that construction would start in 2017 on a microhospital and adjoining medical complex. The facility will include eight inpatient rooms, an emergency department with 10 exam rooms and full imaging services, such as ultrasounds and X-rays, and lab support.
For the health care network, the project is an opportunity to better serve its patients in the Center Grove area, as well as reach new clients in a fast-growing part of the county.
“From a patient’s perspective, the primary advantage is convenience,” Lauter said. “This location will be much closer to a segment of our core market. Currently, we see many of those patients at our campus in Indianapolis, but this will be much more centrally located to that segment of population.”
White River Township has become one of the county’s most populous areas, and much of that growth has come in the past 15 years. The population has grown 28 percent since 2000, from 35,539 people to 45,633. Demographic research indicates that growth will continue, Lauter said.
A new facility also helps relieve the demands on Franciscan Health’s Indianapolis emergency department. With a segment of patients going to this new microhospital, the wait times at both emergency rooms will be less.
“All of the hospitals make significant efforts to be sure that they’re seeing patients in a timely fashion in the emergency department. But that’s a great challenge,” Lauter said “At this site, we won’t be handling the most severe emergency cases, it will be a little quicker to get through the system.”
The Franciscan Health facility is the only confirmed Johnson County microhospital being built. But the potential for two other such hospitals on the southside exists.
Plans were submitted by Texas-based Embree Asset Group over the summer to build microhospitals in Greenwood and Indianapolis, just north of County Line Road.
The two southside locations were part of a larger campaign by Embree Asset Group to put more standalone emergency facilities in central Indiana. St. Vincent Health announced in August that it would be operating the facilities in Noblesville, Avon, Plainfield and the Castleton area of Indianapolis.
No health care provider had been released for the Greenwood and southside Indianapolis locations, and planning officials in both cities say the projects have had no activity.
Bill Peeples, planning director for Greenwood, said Embree Asset Group submitted its plans in June.
At 5911 N. State Road 135, south of Smokey Row Road, plans called for a 16,400-square-foot building offering 24-hour emergency care, as well as eight inpatient beds to treat and stabilize patients who were admitted.
The process is 99 percent complete, but Peeples has had no further contact with the company.
“They went through all of the requirements, and it’s just sitting here waiting for them to finish it up. I don’t know if they’ve abandoned the project or delayed it, but nothing is going on,” he said.
The Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development received paperwork from Embree Asset Group to build a facility at 8601 S. Emerson Ave. in Indianapolis, according to spokeswoman Lindsey Richardt. That project would also include emergency care and eight beds for patients who need 24-hour nursing care for short stays.
The project was approved, but the planning department had no further information on the status of construction, Richardt said.
Phone calls and emails to Embree Asset Group were not returned.
The health care system is complex and heavily regulated, Lauter said. Adding to the difficulty of long-range planning is the potential changes that could be coming with a new presidential administration.
Microhospitals are one way for providers to evolve and adapt.
“Being close to the community we serve, we think is going to be a favorable element regardless of how the health care system changes direction, if it changes direction,” Lauter said. “More access points and convenient access points we think are going to be a key element in any health care system that comes in the future.”
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Here is a look at proposed microhospitals on the southside and in Johnson County:
1. 8601 S. Emerson Ave, Indianapolis
Who: Being developed by Embree Asset Group; no information on health care provider
What: An emergency department with eight rooms for patients who need 24-hour nursing over several days.
Status: Plans have been approved by the Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development, but the construction timetable is unknown.
2. State Road 135, just south of Stones Crossing Road
Who: Franciscan Health
What: Plans to build a new outpatient and specialty care pavilion together with an adjoining microhospital with an emergency department.
Status: Work will begin in March 2017, with plans to be done in late fall 2018.
3. 5911 S. State Road 135, Greenwood
Who: Being developed by Embree Asset Group; no information on health care provider
What: A one-story 24-hour emergency room with eight rooms for treating patients
Status: The application process is 99 percent done, but the process has stalled since summer, according to the Greenwood Planning Department.
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