IU Health Bloomington created quite a stir this morning when it announced, to many people's surprise, that it would build its new hospital on the city's east side next to the Indiana University Technology Park instead of on the property it already owns on State Road 46 near Curry Pike.
IU Health and IU-Bloomington are partnering to create a health center that will include both the hospital and university buildings for health care training programs.
The project is a major endeavor and much of the plan is not finalized, but there is still plenty of information to take in right now.
Here are five things you should know about the Bloomington health center and the implications it has for the community:
1. The hospital will stay within city limits and on public transit.
As we mentioned, the hospital was considering a move to an 85-acre property it owns along State Road 46 near Curry Pike, but some Bloomington residents - including Mayor Mark Kruzan - expressed concerns about taking the hospital off Bloomington Transit bus lines, which many low-income patients use to get to the hospital.
"Obviously, the downtown location was something that we were sad to see go," Kruzan said. "But given the option of going out west of the interstate and still being within city limits, we'll take city limits every day."
IU Health Bloomington does not pay city taxes because it is a nonprofit, but keeping the hospital in the city limits could still benefit the city's economy because of other economic activity that inherently comes along with hospital.
2. This expansion gives the university room to grow.
The hospital's relocation is part of a growing partnership between the university and the hospital. The two will work to create a combined health care and academic complex called a regional health care campus.
It's an idea that IU Health Bloomington President and CEO Mark Moore says was initiated by IU President Michael McRobbie.
IU Spokesman Mark Land says the new campus means more classrooms and lab space - things the university needs to keep up with the demand for its health sciences programs. The university routinely turns away qualified nursing candidates because it doesn't have enough space.
"It also puts our students literally next door to the clinicians, the people who are practicing," Land says. "Logistically, it just makes it so wonderful because, they're literally going to be there."
3. There's no plan for the existing hospital - yet.
Moore says Kruzan, on behalf of the city, has "spoken of wanting to comprise a reuse committee to look at potential uses" for the property where IU Health Bloomington Hospital currently sits, but he says he can't speculate on what that might look like.
"[O]ur commitment is to be thorough, to be thoughtful and to make sure we do positive things for the reuse of that property," he says. "We will certainly be open to ideas and suggestions from all the key stakeholders."
There are also no plans for the 85 acres the hospital owns on the western edge of town.
4. The Indiana University and IU Health Boards of Trustees will have to approve the proposal.
McRobbie says the proposal's development started in January - but this proposal is just the beginning of what could be a much longer process. Many of the details still need to be ironed out since the plan came together quickly, Moore says.
Those details will need the seal of approval from two different boards of trustees.
Once that's complete, the design and implementation portion of the process can begin, and Moore says that will take at least a year.
5. This complex will partner the city's first and third largest employers.
At this stage, it's unclear how many new jobs the complex could bring to the city. But the site will include several additions to the hospital, including an ambulatory care center.
That center would give the hospital an opportunity to focus on the growing outpatient market.
The complex could also become a hub for clinical research, potentially attracting more medical and health experts to Bloomington.
