IU Health Saxony Expansion Will Bring New Features and Services
Story & Photography Provided by IU Health
Ten years after opening a 38-bed, specialty-care-focused hospital at 136th Street and Interstate 69 in Fishers, Indiana University Health has broken ground on its expansion of IU Health Saxony Hospital – soon to be IU Health Fishers.
The $300 million investment will include a significant expansion of the IU Health Saxony Hospital campus and services, and the addition of off-site, outpatient access to primary care and specialists to more holistically meet the needs of one of Indiana’s fastest-growing communities. In recognition of this growth, this community investment will include a renaming of the hospital campus to IU Health Fishers, to be phased in throughout the duration of the project.
The planned expansion will add standalone outpatient physician office developments in the community, and grow the square footage of the hospital campus by nearly 50%. The hospital expansion will add:
- 50 inpatient beds, bringing the total to 88.
- Riley Children’s Health emergency medicine services, including a pediatric emergency department to be built adjacent to the adult emergency department.
- New and expanded services in obstetrics and gynecology; ear, nose and throat; nephrology; neurology; and pulmonology.
- Growth of existing specialty programs in cardiovascular, gastroenterology, general medicine, general surgery, orthopedics, primary care (pediatric and adult), and urology.
- Expansion of support-services space to accommodate additional staff and higher patient volumes.
“Fishers is the sixth-largest city in Indiana today, and with notable population growth expected each year, could be as much as 50% larger by the year 2040,” says Doug Puckett, president of IU Health’s Indianapolis Suburban Region, which includes IU Health North, Saxony, Tipton and West hospitals. “Community members and leaders have told us what they need and want from IU Health to best serve that growth. Thanks to the vision and investment from our executive leadership team, as well as our regional and system board of directors, we’re able to meet these needs.”
As part of the investment, Riley Children’s Health will begin work on a dedicated, pediatric emergency department, which will be staffed 24/7 by Riley Children’s emergency medicine physicians and nurses. It will include eight pediatric emergency rooms with a four-bed observation unit, as well as a separate pediatric entrance, waiting room and triage area.
“When you’re a parent and your child’s life and health are at risk, confidence in the health care team means everything,” says Gil Peri, president of Riley Children’s Health. “While it’s never our wish that anyone needs emergency care, this community can rest assured in knowing they’ll have close access to our highly skilled Riley emergency department team members in the moments where they need it most.”
Dubbed the Fishers Community Impact Project due to its scope both on and off the hospital campus, the project timeline will vary for the individual elements included. The hospital expansion is expected to be complete in 2025 and will double the hospital’s workforce.
