NEWS

St. Vincent to open 4 emergency micro-hospitals

Shari Rudavsky
shari.rudavsky@indystar.com
An artist rendering of one of the four St. Vincent emergency hospitals,

St. Vincent is planning to open four free-standing emergency hospitals in the Indianapolis area to bridge the gap between the urgent care center and an acute-care emergency department.

The four facilities — planned for Noblesville, Castleton, Avon and Plainfield — will offer round-the-clock emergency care with the option of overnight stays for patients who need it. Each hospital will have seven outpatient beds and eight in-patient beds.

Also known as micro-hospitals, the emergency hospitals are part of St. Vincent’s strategy to provide care to patients closer to their homes. Earlier this year, St. Vincent entered into an agreement with Kroger's Little Clinic to provide care at 10 in-store clinics.

The health system also plans to open three new ambulatory care centers in Crawfordsville, Brownsburg, and Plainfield next year. An additional four emergency hospitals will follow down the road, said Jonathan Nalli, chief executive officer at St. Vincent.

“We believe this has such an incredible place in the new healthcare delivery world that is shifting from volume to value-based environments,” Nalli said. “This creates more access point where St. Vincent patients and patients wanting St. Vincent care were.”

Mystery surrounds ‘micro-hospitals’ planned in Indianapolis area

St. Vincent declined to provide specifics on how much the new facilities will cost to build. They will open mid- to late 2017.

The micro-hospital model has been gaining popularity nationwide, and Indiana offers a good environment for them, Brian Tabor, executive vice president of the Indiana Hospital Association, told IndyStar in July.

“There are a lot of models like this developing in a number of states across the country, so time will tell whether the ones we see in Indiana are similar,” Tabor said. “Indiana has a well-developed and good healthcare marketplace.”

St. Vincent's emergency hospitals will provide care for those who require emergency, but not catastrophic, services, Nalli said, such as dehydration from a gastrointestinal illness or an accident such as stepping on a rake that leaves a major gash. Patients who need care after their doctor’s office and urgent care centers have closed could choose to visit one of these.

Each hospital will be staffed at all times with an emergency room physician, and have ultrasound, X-ray and CT scan capabilities on-site. Pediatric patients also will be welcome.

“St. Vincent emergency hospitals will provide a critical niche in how patients moving forward are going to receive care,” Nalli said. “We’re providing an environment that allows patients to receive the right treatment in the right time.”

Patients at the emergency hospitals will be seen within 20 minutes of arrival, faster than typical at  St. Vincent Indianapolis Hospital 86th Street or St Vincent’s Carmel Hospital on North Meridian Street. The health system estimates each emergency hospital will treat about 20 patients in a 24-hour period. Just as at the traditional emergency rooms, the busiest hours are projected to fall from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Eli Lilly's next CEO could carry first Alzheimer's treatment across the finish line

Price of care will be comparable to the cost of care at a traditional hospital emergency room.  Patients who require more than one night in a hospital likely will be transferred to another facility, where they can receive more extensive examination and care, Nalli said.

The emergency hospitals represent St. Vincent’s first foray into the western suburbs.

The Avon hospital, to be built on the site of the former OId Farm Market on U.S. 36, lies less than 3 miles from IU Health West Hospital and about 1 mile from a Hendricks Regional Health Immediate Care Center.

Studies showed, however, that many people who live in Avon and Plainfield already travel to St Vincent locations for their care, Nalli said.

“We felt we needed to invest in locations where we had a St. Vincent patient presence,” Nalli said.

The Embree Group, based in Texas, is developing the hospitals. Embree also is building a facility in Greenwood. When asked about the Greenwood site, Nalli said that the four hospitals that St. Vincent is moving forward with for now are the locations listed above.

Call IndyStar reporter Shari Rudavsky at (317) 444-6354. Follow her on Twitter: @srudavsky.