INDIANAPOLIS — If you’ve ever remodeled a bathroom or built a home, you know how simple plans can evolve as times, circumstances change or new possibilities emerge.
“This is a kitchen remodel, or a renovation on steroids,” said Jim Mladacki, vice president of design and construction for IU Health. “This is an investment that’s meant to last for 75 years.”
Mladucki is tasked with overseeing construction of the 44-acre IU Health campus in a corner of the northern border that borders 16 states.Number It travels north and east along Street and Capitol Avenue, and is located at the corner where I-70 turns into I-65 on the southwest side.
“This $4.29 billion project is the largest health care project currently under construction in the United States,” he said, putting it on par with projects underway at Stanford University and Children’s Hospital of Atlanta. “It’s truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do something in our state that will impact generations to come.”
The campus’s anchor will be three 16-story, 864-bed hospital buildings and adjacent buildings housing the IU School of Medicine, laboratories, offices, clinics, retail space and support services.
“This is really an opportunity to reinvent everything we do and make it as modern as possible,” said Nick Wojciechski, vice president of project planning and operations for IU Health. “The best of what it takes to provide tertiary, high-technology intensive care is all coming together in one place, surrounding each individual patient.”
Modern medicine is still practiced in parts of the original Methodist hospital, dating back to 1905.
When the new campus opens in 2027, the outdated portions of the current IU Methodist building will be demolished.
The IU School of Medicine will close its current facility on the IU Indy campus.
“We’re building a campus, and we’re working in partnership with the School of Medicine,” said IU Health Medical Center Chancellor Ryan Nagy. “We’re attracting the best physician-scientists, the best doctors, the best nurses, engineers and therapists. It’s a campus they want to be at. Why? Because it’s all within a few blocks of each other, with all the resources we need to further our academic mission: innovation, discovery, education and research. Those are key components that provide us with a very differentiated value compared to other universities, especially in this state, and we’re fully invested in that.”
Nagy said the new IU Health Care campus will not only attract the best medical and research talent to the Midwest, but will also elevate IU’s flagship hospital into the top ranks of American health care.
“We’re comparing ourselves to our peer group, which includes the top 10 hospitals in the country, so we have all the resources we need and the state’s largest medical school is a key partner in all of this,” he said. “There’s really no reason why this medical center, the state of Indiana, wouldn’t be in the top 10 for health care services within the next decade.”
Planners promise the building will enhance the aesthetic of Indianapolis’ architectural design while also improving the campus’ efficiency and reducing its carbon footprint.
“It’s a combination of Indiana limestone, metal and glass,” Mladucki said, “and will be comparable to what you’ll see on Skyline and some of the projects currently underway across the Midwest.”
