8/4 & 6 & 7/2015 IU Health Offers Tours of Full-Size Hospital Mock-Up

Published: August 4, 2015 By: Mary Perren, WKVI

IU Health officials are working on plans for a new, state-of-the-art hospital in Knox. President Craig Felty says the lean concept design will focus on efficiency.

“It’s going to be a licensed hospital. We’ll have all the outpatient complementary services that we offer now – x-ray, lab, CT, MRI – all of the diagnostic imaging options we have now. It will have a full-service emergency department. We’re looking right now at a 10-bed hospital, or a 10 bed inpatient unit, if you will.”

Members of the public are invited to take a tour of a life-sized, cardboard mock-up of the proposed new design. It is set up at the former Freeman Products Building at 888 S. CR 300 East in Knox. Tours will be available Tuesday, Aug. 4 from 4 until 6 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 6 from 7:30 until 9:30 a.m. and Friday, Aug. 7 at 10 a.m.

Felty says more care is transitioning to outpatient offerings. He adds IU Health Starke Hospital is well positioned for that.

“About 82 percent of the work we do is outpatient. We’re actually very well placed for what the future’s going to hold for us. We know that even more of that is probably going to end up being in the outpatient area. We know there is a need for inpatient care in Starke County. We’re going to be here to serve that need for as long as we can.”

Felty adds wellness and illness prevention are also important offerings.

“We want to help you be well, and we want to help you prevent illness through pre-screenings and getting aligned with the family physician and just making sure you have an established relationship with a provider that you can go see. You can get your screenings that you need to get done, and you can prevent illness. That’s one of the areas we feel we have a great impact on, and we’re very proud of that.”

Plans call for the new hospital to be constructed just to the south of the existing building in what is now the parking lot. The current IU Health Starke Hospital facility will be torn down once the new building is done, and the area where it sits will be used for parking.