Franciscan Health opens new Crown Point hospital
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowFranciscan Health on Sunday marked the opening of its newest hospital in northwest Indiana.
The $200 million Franciscan Health Crown Point is a seven-story facility with 200 inpatient beds, a neonatal intensive care unit, and will continue its work as the only Level III Trauma Center in the region.
The Mishawaka-based health system successfully transitioned all 125 patients at the former hospital facility to the new one on Sunday after the emergency room at the new facility opened.
In an interview with Business of Health Reporter Kylie Veleta, Franciscan Health Crown Point CEO Dr. Daniel McCormick said the new hospital will also create a ripple effect for economic development.
“All those things that people seek out in a community where they live—they look for education, they look for health care, they look for job opportunities—all of those things are augmented by a facility like this,” McCormick said. “I do think having the accessibility of health care in your community and health care, the caliber that we’re providing, will definitely make Crown Point even more desirable, but frankly the entire Lake County and the region.”
The new hospital, located at the corner of Interstate 65 and U.S. 231, has room to expand to up to 300 inpatient beds. It also features an attached medical office building and expandable diagnostic and treatment centers.
The facility also has a pediatric floor, and McCormick said they are partnering with Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago to expand the hospital’s inpatient pediatric footprint.
“It’s the accessibility and the updated technology within the facility that allows us to bring state-of-the-art diagnostics and state-of-the-art treatment surgery to the region at a much more accessible place,” he said. “I think the minute people step through the building, they’ll understand that it’s an approachable, comfortable setting, with the latest technology and providers ready here to take care of everything that comes through our doors.”
The original Franciscan Crown Point Hospital was built some 50 years ago. McCormick said the health system did consider updating the facility but ultimately determined that it would not be cost effective to do so.
“With what’s expected from the consumer today and what’s expected from the physicians and where modern medicine and health care have gone, you really just couldn’t keep up with a facility of that age,” he said. “If we are going to continue to provide services to the people of northwest Indiana, we’ve got to provide them with the technology and the experience that they require. And it required a new facility.”
The original facility at 1201 S. Main Street is being rebranded as Franciscan Health Main St. Outpatient Center, A Division of Franciscan Health Crown Point, and will continue to house a variety of outpatient services.