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.
