A new kind of health care facility is coming to one of Johnson County’s fastest growing areas as part of a $50 million hospital expansion.
Franciscan Health announced it is opening a microhospital in the Center Grove area. The facility will include eight inpatient rooms, an emergency department with 10 exam rooms, full imaging services such as ultrasounds and X-rays and lab support.
The microhospital will be part of a 85,000-square-feet medical pavilion for outpatient family and internal medicine, built on State Road 135, just south of Stones Crossing Road. Other microhospitals owned by a Texas development group have been planned or are under construction in central Indiana, including Greenwood.
Construction on the estimated $50 million Franciscan project is expected to begin in March 2017, with the facility completed by late fall 2018.
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“Franciscan Health is committed to providing high quality healthcare with convenient access to those we serve,” President and CEO James Callaghan said 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.”
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.
The growth has led to the area becoming a focal point for health care providers in Johnson County. This new Franciscan Health will be situated near an existing medical facility, the Stones Crossing Health Pavilion, which is a joint grouping of medical providers from Community Health Network and Johnson Memorial Health.
In the new Franciscan medical pavilion, patients will find 58 exam rooms for varying medical services. The design allows doctors and nurses to work more collaboratively to treat people.
In addition, a pediatric wing with 16 exam rooms and a 15-room “flex clinic,” available to specialty physicians on a rotating basis, has been planned for the medical pavilion.
Office space has been designated for obstetrical and gynecological care. Another area of the center is set aside for rehabilitation, including hand and speech therapy.
Specific areas for lab work, rooms for blood-draws and imaging services such as ultrasounds, CT scans and MRIs will be available as well.
Officials have included a wellness spa to the design, with services such as massage therapy, acupuncture, mammography and bone density scanning.
The medical complex will be augmented by a microhospital facility open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The concept is to provide many of the same services available 12 miles away Franciscan Health’s Indianapolis hospital, such as the emergency department and imaging, in an efficient space.
The new complex will provide hospital services more conveniently 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.
“Our microhospital is a model of value-based care and focuses on providing the right kind of care at the right time at the right location for patients residing in that area,” he said in a news release.
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What: Plans to build a new outpatient and specialty care pavilion together with an adjoining microhospital with an emergency department in the Center Grove area.
Who: Franciscan Health
Where: State Road 135, just south of Stones Crossing Road
Size: Nearly 85,000 square feet
Cost: Estimated $50 million
Construction schedule: Work will begin in March 2017, with plans to be done in late fall 2018.
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