Mooresville specialty hospital expands to full-service facility
Several St. Francis Hospital officials cut a ribbon on April 16 to officially open the expanded St. Francis Hospital-Mooresville in Mooresville. They are, from left, Keith Jewell, chief operating officer of St. Francis Hospital and Health Centers; Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration Jane Marie Klein, chairperson of the Sisters of St. Francis Health Services Inc. board of trustees, and Angela Mellady, her order’s provincial superior; Dr. John Meding, medical staff president of St. Francis Hospital-Mooresville; Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration Mediatrix Nies, the order’s general superior; and Robert Brody, president and chief executive officer of St. Francis Hospital and Health Centers in Beech Grove, Indianapolis and Mooresville. (Submitted photo)
Criterion staff report
People who travel on State Road 67 in Morgan County have noticed a significant change in the appearance of St. Francis Hospital-Mooresville over the past two years.
The hospital, originally known as a renowned specialty hospital, is completing the transition to a full-service community hospital with its largest-ever campus expansion.
The expanded facility opened to patients on April 21.
Msgr. Joseph F. Schaedel, vicar general, and Father John Mannion, St. Francis Health Services’ director of spiritual care service, assisted with the blessing and dedication ceremony on April 16.
As part of the $42 million expansion, the hospital added a 34-bed orthopedic inpatient unit, a 26-bed adult medical-surgical inpatient unit, an eight-bed intensive care unit, six new operating rooms, a new laboratory and an on-site office for Indiana Heart Physicians for expanded cardiac services.
The hospital campus has grown from 258,000 square feet to nearly 400,000 square feet with this expansion.
“The expansion is the continuation of an eight-year investment in this hospital to address the health care needs of the growing northern Morgan, Hendricks and southwestern Marion counties,” said Robert Brody, president and chief executive officer of St. Francis Hospital and Health Centers.
“Our goal with this expansion is to offer the best health care available right in this community,” Brody said, “so the large number of area residents who have been leaving Morgan County to receive medical services get the care they need close to home.”
The new orthopedic and adult inpatient nursing units offer private patient rooms, modern conveniences and the latest technology for patients and the medical team.
Physicians and medical staff members have access to wireless communication technology and bedside charting for improved caregiver communication and efficiency. Patient care stations are located outside patient rooms in addition to centralized nursing stations, enabling physicians and nurses to perform their responsibilities closer to the patient.
The hospital’s current inpatient units will be converted into a convent for the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration. The building that formerly housed the hospital’s operating rooms will be demolished this summer to create additional parking for the new medical office building under construction.
Six new surgery suites offer the newest developments in surgical technology, including a high-tech video and photography system in every operating room. The system is used for viewing X-rays during surgery; printing or copying photos to a CD, flash drive or patient chart for later reference; and teaching demonstrations as well as information-sharing with other physicians.
The operating rooms are equipped with laminar airflow and ultraviolet light technology for sterilization, which is critical in preventing infection.
A major piece of the hospital’s expansion is the development of an emergency department scheduled to open in October 2008.
“We realize community members are eagerly awaiting the opening of our emergency department later this year,” said Keith Jewell, senior vice president and chief operating officer of St. Francis Hospital and Health Centers. “When St. Francis Hospital-Mooresville’s emergency department opens later this year, it will provide community members [with] high-quality emergency care close to home as well as peace of mind.” †
