LAFAYETTE, Ind. — In a positive move for Tippecanoe County area health care consumers, St. Elizabeth Regional Health’s higher-than-projected patient volume at both Home Hospital and St. Elizabeth Medical Center, coupled with anticipated future patient growth projections, will allow St. Elizabeth Regional Health to maintain services at Lafayette’s St. Elizabeth Medical Center and at the soon-to-be-opened St. Elizabeth East on Creasy Lane. The plan remains to sell Home Hospital after patients and services are transferred when St. Elizabeth East opens.
Terry Wilson, president and CEO of St. Elizabeth Regional Health, said, “For the past two years, St. Elizabeth management, medical staff and employees have worked very hard to address the projected patient volume shift in our community. Thanks to the commitment of our loyal referring physicians and superb medical team of nurses and staff, St. Elizabeth Regional Health’s patient volume is ahead of our initial projections and holding steady. I think this is the best outcome possible for our community and for our organization.”
As part of the expanded reuse plan for St. Elizabeth Medical Center, the hospital campus will be renamed St. Elizabeth Central, effective immediately. Wilson said, “The reason for this name change continues the trend we began when we planned for St. Elizabeth East. Having directional identifiers associated with each hospital creates a similar naming convention for each. The St. Elizabeth Central name allows the community – including hospital employees, volunteers, physicians and physician office staff members – an opportunity to better identify each hospital campus location.
“We are pleased to be able to keep St. Elizabeth Central open for critical patient care. Our patient volume forecasting prepared us for a higher decline in patient volume, but we always hoped for the best. We had faith, and we have the flexibility to make changes in response to our patients’ ever-changing health care needs.”
As the area’s long-time community hospital provider, St. Elizabeth Regional Health has always planned for the region’s future health care needs, and currently Tippecanoe County has a projected population growth of 4 percent over the next 10 years. With the decision to maintain St. Elizabeth Central as a fully operating hospital, residents living in the Tippecanoe County area are assured of ample hospital facilities for the long-term.
St. Elizabeth Regional Health is projecting even more patient volume thanks to recent success in recruiting physicians in several surgical subspecialties and in growing our primary care base. In addition, St. Elizabeth is committed to providing 24/7 hospitalist service for patients.
As part of St. Elizabeth Regional Health’s ongoing maintenance and continuous improvement of its medical facilities, St. Elizabeth Central has benefited from nearly $11 million worth of enhancements during the last five years. In total, almost $5 million has been invested in maintenance and repair to existing buildings on the St. Elizabeth Central campus, and more than $6 million for renovations and upgrades to St. Elizabeth Central including:
- Pharmacy,
- Physical therapy and outpatient therapy facilities,
- Seton Specialty Hospital renovations,
- Hospice relocation within the Bill Long Building,
- Chapel renovations and
- Relocations, upgrades, demolitions, replacement of carpet and furnishings and remodels.
Wilson said, “The board of the Sisters of St. Francis Health Services has also approved additional financial resources to increase the number of private patient rooms within St. Elizabeth Central. We are fully committed to maintaining a seamless continuum of superior patient experiences and a supportive work environment for staff – at both facilities – to enable our physicians, nurses and staff to perform at the highest levels possible. Our patients deserve nothing less.”
The new St. Elizabeth East, when opened, will offer patients the latest medical treatments, compassionate care and the healing power of hope. It will have 150 inpatient beds, eight state-of-the-art operating suites, 27 emergency department bays, a Women’s Center with 14 neonatal intensive care suites in our level III NICU and private patient rooms.
Decisions about the medical services provided in each of the two hospital facilities are being studied and will be released as soon as decisions are finalized. Initial plans call for offering cardiac, women and children’s, and inpatient and outpatient surgical services at St. Elizabeth East. St. Elizabeth Central will continue to serve inpatient medical and intensive care patients. Both hospitals will offer emergency services to meet the needs of those served by the existing Home Hospital and St. Elizabeth Central Emergency Departments, while addressing the demand for Emergency Services from the ever-expanding population on the east and south sides of Lafayette.
“By continually enhancing the St. Elizabeth Central facility, and with the opening the new St. Elizabeth East,” Wilson said, “the Tippecanoe County region’s patients and families are assured of advanced medical treatments and compassionate care at two close-to-home, state-of-the-art St. Elizabeth hospitals. And in keeping with our Franciscan mission, we will continue provide health care to all who present themselves to our doors, regardless of their ability to pay.”
