IU Health Officials Schedule Next Hospital Mock-Up

Published: September 10, 2015 By: Mary Perren, WKVI

Members of the public will have a chance to walk through a life-size mockup of the next phase of the new IU Health Starke Hospital next week. The scale model has been dubbed “cardboard city.” Construction workers last month built the first phase at the former Freeman Products Building at the corner of 300 East and Culver Road in Knox.

The second phase will be ready for public tours on Tuesday, Sept. 15 from 4 until 6 p.m. and Friday, Sept. 18 from 9 until 11 a.m. It will feature pharmacy, administration, registration, medical/surgical units and therapy services.

IU Health officials say the model helps stakeholders fully understand the space so they can create a hospital that will best meet the needs of patients, caregivers and the entire community. Suggestions offered during last month’s tour of the first phase have been incorporated into the project design. “Cardboard city” is being constructed in two phases due to limited warehouse space.

The new building will be constructed between the existing hospital and the medical office buildings. Once it is done, plans call for the demolition of the current hospital building in order to accommodate parking.

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.

Ideas Taking Shape for Potential New Hospital

Published: June 27, 2015

By: Tyler Maffitt, WKVI

An exchange of ideas has led to the development of ideas for what could be a new hospital in Knox.

A committee of about 12 individuals, consisting of staff from IU Health Starke and their architects, has been putting their thoughts to paper for a future hospital. The committee presented their ideas on Friday to gathered staff.

Director of Patient Care Services Janet Gillon says the development of a major undertaking is a long process.

“You have to believe that by going through these steps, the outcome will be better than if you had just jumped to the solution,” says Gillon.

Although Starke County owns the current hospital site, it was mentioned several times during the presentation an upgrade in facilities could lead to better employee satisfaction. That could lead to better community care.

Finding efficiency in the operations and layout of a new hospital building was considered key. By optimizing floor space, the healthcare group could potentially save on additional costs that accompany the square footage.

Director of Emergency Management Josephine Klicek says some of that efficiency has to do with the proximity of certain care divisions with others.

“As we built things, we tried to look at: yes, it has to be efficient for the patient, it has to be efficient for the colleagues, it has to be efficient for the providers,” says Klicek. “Those were our watchwords all week long. It’s about efficiency, about steps, and about time.”

Architects will be working with the committee’s ideas for the next several months.

Though the estimate is not set in stone, building and site costs could run IU Health around $13-million.