Franciscan Health to cut 218 inpatient beds at Indiana hospital

Franciscan Health plans to cut 218 inpatient beds at its 100-year-old hospital in Hammond, Ind., according to The Times of Northwest Indiana.

The Mishawaka, Ind.-based healthcare system said it will shrink the 226-bed Franciscan Health Hammond hospital to an eight-bed acute care facility with an emergency department and primary care practice. 

Franciscan Health said it made its decision because the 100-year-old building is expensive to maintain and the market is craving more outpatient care.

The health system also will stop providing most high-end surgical services, but it will still provide primary care, inpatient stays on a short-term basis, imaging services, laboratory services and dialysis. 

"We will continue providing healthcare services in Hammond, just on a smaller scale," Fransican Health spokesperson Robert Blaszkiewicz told the Times. 

Franciscan Health will invest $45 million to tear down much of the nine-story hospital and start renovations on the part of the facility that remains, according to the report.

As a result of the changes, many hospital staff will be transitioned to other Franciscan Health hospitals in Dryer and Munster, Ind. Affected staff were notified May 4. 

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