The 16 Tech bridge, which spans from 10th Street and Riley Hospital Drive into 16 Tech, is part of a larger $30 million infrastructure project. (Provided photo)
In its latest expansion into central Indiana, Fort Wayne-based Parkview Health has announced it will open an innovation space in downtown Indianapolis’ 16 Tech Innovation District.
The move builds on a steady drumbeat of initiatives by Parkview in recent months to increase its brand awareness, services and infrastructure in central Indiana, with efforts including TV and digital advertising, consulting and the construction of new hospitals.
Parkview said it will occupy a “startup garage bay” in the HqO Innovation Hub at 16 Tech, 1220 Waterway Blvd., with a ribbon-cutting and open house planned for 3 p.m. Oct 22. Already, staff are available for drop-in hours from 9 a.m. to noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays to meet with small businesses and entrepreneurs looking to collaborate with Parkview.
“We will be building connections with startups and creating opportunities for collaboration with the Parkview innovation team as well as our broader health system, just as we do today,” Ethel Massing, Parkview’s director of innovation and strategic enterprises, said in an email. “This includes providing access to mentors, pilot opportunities and introductions to clinical and operational leaders.”
To start, Parkview said the space will be staffed only during the twice-weekly drop-in hours. “As collaborations in Indianapolis expand, we anticipate increasing our presence and staffing accordingly,” Massing said.
“We’re excited to have a spot that encourages connection and collaboration, both with visitors who stop by and with our neighbors in the district, like Butler, Lilly, STARTedUP Foundation, BioCrossroads and others.”
In moving to downtown Indianapolis, Parkview enters the heart of the region’s efforts to bolster life sciences through involvement with health care providers, where Indianapolis-based academic health system Indiana University Health is the dominant player.
IU Health also has a presence at 16 Tech, with the IU Health Cyber Security office and IU Health 3D Innovations Lab, according to 16 Tech spokesperson Jacqueline Eckhardt. “16 Tech is a vibrant nexus for human health,” she said in an email.
Initiatives include the recently launched IU Health BioStartup Incubator at IU LAB (LAB stands for Launch Accelerator for Biosciences), designed to attract new businesses to the state and help up to 40 human health startups a year as part of a partnership between IU Health, venture and business accelerators Gener8tor and Plug and Play and Central Indiana Corporate Partnership.
“16 Tech is the ideal community for entrepreneurs, startups, academics and corporations to come together to solve problems,” Dr. Michael Mirro, chief academic research officer for Parkview Health, said in a written statement
Parkview said the 16 Tech space will extend the same innovation services offered at its Parkview Mirro Center for Research and Innovation in Fort Wayne and will be used by multiple Parkview teams to connect with entrepreneurs, startups and researchers in central Indiana.
This year, Parkview has grown its investment and interest in central Indiana in multiple ways by increasing digital and TV advertising, providing strategic services to Riverview Health in Hamilton County and announcing plans for a $150 million hospital in Lebanon and a $200 million hospital in West Lafayette.
“Parkview continues to grow its presence across Indiana to better serve patients, providers and innovators,” Massing said.
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