Work continued last wek on the $185.5 million, five-story expansion to Franciscan Health Munster. Staff photo
Franciscan Health's project to elevate its Munster hospital into a regional medical center is progressing as crews continue work on a five-story expansion with an estimated cost of $185.5 million.
The Mishawaka-based health care provider is building a major addition onto its hospital at 701 Superior Ave.
"The plans include a five-story addition with interventional, inpatient and specialty care space to expand the abilities of the existing facilities to meet the health needs of the community," a Franciscan Health spokeswoman said. "Portions of the existing hospital will be renovated to provide larger, realigned support space and public amenities. The campus site will be reconfigured to provide additional parking and relocate the existing loading dock."
Tonn and Blank, a construction firm Franciscan owns and which has done its multimillion-dollar hospital projects in Michigan City and Crown Point, has been handling the construction.
"Current projections for the project are $185.5 million," the spokeswoman said. "That figure could change as the project moves forward based on cost variations of materials and other unforeseeable issues."
Franciscan Health Munster is currently a 63-bed acute-care facility that was originally known as Physicians Hospital until Franciscan Health acquired it in 2007. It's now home to about 50 medical specialties and subspecialties.
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Franciscan Health is building onto the hospital after shuttering the 120-year-old former St. Margaret Hospital in downtown Hammond at the end of 2022. The health care provider also is adding three stories onto an existing three-story medical office building at the hospital campus by the intersection of Calumet and 45th avenues.
Franciscan Health also got approval from the town to build a new facilities plant, a new parking lot and a relocated helipad that's used to transport patients.
"The addition will be able to house additional interventional care, inpatient and specialty care units," according to Franciscan Health. "We will decide on specific departments closer to the addition opening based on patient volumes and projected needs. As such, we won’t know how many staff members will be added to serve patients in the new units until closer to the opening."
A project manager for Tonn and Blank told the town the project likely would add around 700,000 square feet to the hospital campus and turn the hospital into a regional medical center for north Lake County while the new Crown Point hospital would serve as a regional medical center for south Lake County.
Hospital representatives told the town Franciscan also is looking to expand its cancer center, which provides comprehensive hematology and oncology services for different cancers, including bladder, bone, breast, cervical, colon, rectal, head, neck, liver, lung, oral, pancreatic and prostate.
The completion date for the construction project has not been determined.
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