By Annie Goeller, Daily Journal of Johnson County staff writer
By 2010, Center Grove area residents won't have to go far for emergency medical care, X-rays or to see the family doctor.
St. Francis Hospitals and Health Centers hopes to begin construction on a 106,300-square-foot medical campus in the northwest corner of the county early next year.
The $15 million facility, located on 50 acres at the northeast corner of State Road 37 and Fairview Road, was given approval for rezoning the land by county commissioners this week.
Plans are to build the center in two phases.
Officials hope to have the first phase completed by May 2010, which will include most of the services the facility will offer, hospital spokesman Joe Stuteville said.
The entire project's completion date depends on when the first phase is completed.
The new White River Township Medical Campus will bring as many as 200 jobs when it is complete, he said.
Officials recently finalized the plans for the center, including what services will be provided. Separate areas are planned for different services, but they will be connected as one large building, Stuteville said.
St. Francis targeted the Center Grove area for its growth, he said. Officials surveyed people in the area for the types of medical services they were seeking in their neighborhood and what was available.
Those surveys helped officials determine what to include in the new facility, Stuteville said.
The first phase of the new center will include at least 50,000 square feet for doctor's offices, including primary care physicians and possibly some specialists such as obstetricians and gynecologists.
As much as 89,000 square feet could be available for medical offices if expansion is needed, Stuteville said.
Also included in that first phase is space for imaging services, such as X-rays, ultrasounds and CT scans, and rehabilitation services including physical and occupational therapy, he said.
A full-service emergency department that can accept ambulances and treat the same traumas and illnesses as emergency rooms at hospitals will be included, he said.
Once the first phase is finished, work could start on the rest of the facility.
The second phase will include an outpatient surgery center and endoscopic services, including diagnosis, biopsy and outpatient surgery for conditions in the upper body such as the esophagus, Stuteville said.
St. Francis has a hospital located on the southside, at Emerson Avenue and Stop 11 Road, along with facilities in Beech Grove, Mooresville and Plainfield.
The southside hospital gets some patients from the Center Grove area but mainly ones who are seeking cardiac and vascular care at the St. Francis Heart Center, he said.
Officials' hope is to be able to get more patients from the area at the new medical campus, Stuteville said.