Franciscan Health begins work on $40M Mooresville expansion

Franciscan Health Mooresville Hospital is kicking off is largest expansion in more than a decade, a $40 million project that will include construction of a 50,000-square-foot medical office building and an expanded women’s health center.

The health system announced Monday that the upgrades will provide more space and better access for doctors’ clinics, offices and programs.

The hospital is in northern Morgan County, about 18 miles from Franciscan Health’s flagship hospital on South Emerson Avenue in Indianapolis.

“Our Mooresville hospital continues to address the growing health care needs of Morgan, Hendricks and southwestern Marion counties,” said Dr. James Callaghan, president and CEO of Franciscan Health Central Indiana, in a written statement. “This initiative is geared to provide better access and improved services to the patients we are privileged to serve.”

The project will take place in two phases. During the first phase, which begins this month, the hospital will modernize several systems throughout the hospital campus at 1201 Hadley Road. The work includes updates to the heating, cooling, plumbing and electrical systems, installing a new nurse call system, and upgrading roofs, siding and sidewalks.

That part of the project will cost about $23 million, and is scheduled to be completed in December.

During the second phase, the hospital will build a medical office building on the southern edge of the campus. It will house its women’s center, medical practices and other programs.

The current women’s center, located nearby, has been in place since 1999. Part of that building will be demolished to make way for the new complex.

The second phase will began immediately after the first phase is completed, and is scheduled to be completed in late 2020. That part of the project will cost about $17 million.

The hospital is temporarily closing some roads and parking areas during construction, and plans to provide bus shuttle service.

Tonn & Blank Construction is overseeing the project. The engineering firm is IMEG of Indianapolis, and the architecture firm is Indianapolis-based ArcDesign.

The hospital traces its origins to the 1880s in downtown Mooresville when Dr. Clark Robbins and his son-in-law, Dr. E. Bert Hadley, established a clinic specializing in the treatment of rectal diseases. The practice and its hospital and sanitarium services expanded greatly over the decades and later became known as Kendrick Memorial Hospital.

In the early 1970s, leaders decided to relocate the hospital to its present location. In January 2000, Franciscan Health acquired Kendrick Memorial Hospital and established more services, including labor and delivery.

In 2008, Franciscan Health completed a $42 million expansion that added a 34-bed orthopedic inpatient unit, a 26-bed adult medical-surgical inpatient unit, an eight-bed intensive care unit, six new operating rooms, a new laboratory and a new emergency department. In total, the hospital grew from 258,000-square-feet to nearly 400,000-square-feet.

Today, the hospital has 83 staffed beds. Franciscan officials said they are studying additional “possible projects” for the Mooresville campus but did not have any details yet.