Franciscan Health is embracing a regional approach to healthcare which optimizes facilities and resources to improve the level of care for all of Northwest Indiana and Chicago’s South Suburbs. The approach is supported by investments in new hospitals, clinics and innovative technologies to enhance health care options with compassionate care, close to home.

In January of this year, Franciscan Health Crown Point opened in its new location at Interstate 65 and U.S. 231. The new, modern Franciscan Health Crown Point hospital includes 199 inpatient beds with room to expand to 300, as well as an attached medical office building and expandable diagnostic and treatment centers. It includes a hybrid operating room with the latest technology to care for cardiac patients, a neonatal intensive care unit with private rooms, a pediatric floor and the latest in technologies to enhance patient safety and convenience.

The new Franciscan Health Crown Point will be joined by the Dean and Barbara White Cancer Center when it opens at the new hospital property in 2026. The 71,000-square-foot, three-story state-of-the-art diagnostic and treatment center will consolidate existing cancer care services into one convenient location. The new cancer center is made possible by a $30 million donation in the fall of 2023 to the Franciscan Health Foundation from the Dean and Barbara White Family Foundation. The gift represents the largest financial contribution ever received by the organization.

Also in January, Franciscan Health Michigan City announced plans to fully acquire Franciscan Beacon Hospital in LaPorte as of March 1. Franciscan Alliance and Beacon Health System entered an agreement in 2018 for a 50/50 joint partnership for the creation of Franciscan Beacon Hospital at 1010 State Road 2 in LaPorte, which included a building expansion project. The unique, 92,500-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility includes a 24-hour, 10-bed emergency department, eight inpatient beds for overnight care, laboratory services, an on-staff pharmacist, physical therapy, telehealth connectivity and the latest in imaging and diagnostic equipment.

As part of the acquisition, all Beacon Health System nursing, imaging staff and patient access employees currently employed at the hospital — roughly 33 people — will become Franciscan Alliance employees. The hospital acquisition follows Franciscan Health Michigan City’s summer 2023 acquisition of the Franciscan Surgery Center LaPorte, just southeast of the Franciscan Beacon Hospital.

The hospital acquisition news came on the heels of Franciscan Health Michigan City celebrating five years in its new, modern location at the northwest corner of Interstate 94 and U.S. 421.

Franciscan Health Olympia Fields is embarking on a project in Homewood to expand adult rehabilitation services while adding pediatric rehabilitation services and Specialty Physicians of Illinois primary care offices. The project in the Cherry Creek shopping center will add 8,000 square feet to the adult rehabilitation center, create an additional 4,000 square feet for pediatric rehabilitation services and add another 8,000 square feet for the primary care physician clinic. The project is expected to be completed by year’s end.

Franciscan Health Olympia Fields in January 2023 celebrated the opening of Specialty Physicians of Illinois, LLC Family Medicine and Walk-In Clinic in Chicago Heights on the site of the former Franciscan Health Chicago Heights hospital. The free-standing, 10,200-square-foot facility features 12 exam rooms, a triage room, procedure room, laboratory space and an imaging/x-ray unit. It is open 365 days a year.

Across the state line, Franciscan Health Munster is embarking on a project which includes reconfiguring structures to meet new height regulations of the U.S Federal Aviation Administration. The reconfiguration will accommodate a three-story addition to an existing three-story medical structure, the construction of a new five-story medical structure, the addition of a new facilities plant, the relocation of a helipad and the development of a new parking lot and expansion of an existing parking lot.

Franciscan Health Dyer is also undergoing upgrades, with a $5 million investment to update aging infrastructure on the hospital campus on the Illinois state line.

The economic development impacts of these projects go far beyond the healthcare facility campuses. Northwest Indiana Forum President and CEO Heather Ennis spoke of the exponential economic effects of healthcare facilities earlier this year when celebrating the five-year anniversary of Franciscan Health Michigan City opening in its new location on I-94.

“The downstream revenue from a hospital investment is amazing,” Ennis said. “As economic developers, we don’t look at any single investment as just a straight investment. We look at it as long-term impact.”

Ennis cited as an example the developments beginning to emerge at the intersection of I-94 and U.S. 421 as a direct result of the Franciscan Health Michigan City opening in the location.

As we celebrate our growth and our successes, it is important to note why we do what we do. It brings to mind the simple rhyme accompanied by hand gestures we learned as children in Sunday school: Here is the church, here is the steeple. Open the doors and see all the people.

It is the people inside our health care facilities and in our programs — including our co-workers, patients, program participants and their families — who inspire us each and every day. All of our investments are made to better serve them.

Our Prenatal Assistance Programs for mothers in need, Center of Hope services for victims of sexual assault, Community Health & Wellness outreach programs, patient assistance funds to help fill financial gaps, scholarships to local students, Fresh Start Markets, Food Rx program and other food insecurity programs are only a small sampling of the work being done to benefit the people we serve beyond our traditional medical care offerings.

While our hospital names, locations and clinics may have changed along with the treatment methods and technologies used to care for our patients, what hasn’t changed over our 148-year history is our fidelity to our Catholic health care ministry’s mission. Respect for life, compassionate concern, joyful service and Christian stewardship continue to drive our ministry forward.

Change can be difficult, but it can also be transformative. Pope Francis has said Christianity’s mission is to change individuals’ lives so they can change the world. As we move forward in this time of change, we pray our Catholic health care ministry continues to do just that.