The milder winter weather proved an advantage as work on a new comprehensive cancer care center and medical office building at Franciscan Health Munster and construction of a new Franciscan Health Michigan City hospital continue full-speed ahead.
“The steel is up, the walls are up, the concrete floors are poured, among others, and things are progressing well,” says Sister Aline Shultz, hospital chief operating officer.
A fall 2018 completion date is eyed for the 83,500-square-foot, three-story addition that will offer the latest state-of-art services, including:
– Radiation oncology treatment
– Medical oncology-infusion therapy
– Four endoscopy suites; oncology lab services
– Women’s center
– Pharmacy
– Physician suites
– Retail center
The project comes on the heels of completion of a nearly two-year construction effort that included a new, 24-hour Emergency Department, 24 patient rooms, a gift shop, a chapel and a cafeteria-dining room. That project added 80,000 square feet of space and 40,000 square feet of upgrades to the hospital.
“We could not be more excited, as these projects further symbolizes the continuing growth and commitment Franciscan Alliance is making to this area,” Sister Aline says.
Concerning the cancer center she adds, “Folks won’t have to go elsewhere for academic medical services. It all will be right here.”
Michigan City
Meanwhile, the Franciscan Health Michigan City replacement hospital project at Interstate 94 and U.S. 421 continues to be on and in some cases, ahead of schedule, says Dean Mazzoni, hospital president and chief executive officer.
“The construction team made the most of a very mild winter, with steel beginning to go up in January that will continue into July. We are currently planning for a September 2018 grand opening date,” he adds. “We will see the size of the construction crew swell to over 200 workers. Once the final beam is installed some time in July, we can expect the pre-cast exterior to begin arriving for installation.”
The five-story structure will offer the same services, and more, as the current, 100-year-old-plus community cornerstone on Homer Street, with a goal of it becoming a mixed-use health care community, Mazzoni says.
“We are going to have a beautiful, new, state-of-the-art facility, but it is our people who will make the difference. They have been so important to this undertaking in terms of spearheading the design effort and bringing this to an exciting conclusion,” Mazzoni says.
For more information, visit FranciscanHealth.org/MichiganCity; FranciscanHealth.org/Munster.
