Franciscan Health’s former Michigan City hospital site on Homer Street is getting a $20 million makeover.
Franciscan Alliance announced Feb. 14 its board of directors approved repurposing the site to house an assortment of services. It opened an urgent care center in what was the former hospital’s emergency department last year, a few months after the new Michigan City hospital site opened near I-94.
The project includes tearing down about 33% of the structures of the former hospital site, according to Robert Blaszkiewicz, a spokesman for Franciscan. The remaining facilities will include the five-story patient tower, which was built in 2001, the former emergency department wing and a 250-space parking garage.
Blaszkiewicz said a start date for the project has not been determined though the demolition and planned renovations of the remaining structures are expected to take up to two years. Tonn & Blank Construction in Michigan City will manage the project, he said.
Franciscan hopes to begin work on its former Michigan City hospital site this year.
“Programming, planning and design on the Homer Street project will kick off soon,” said Dean Mazzoni, president and CEO of Franciscan Health Michigan City. “When we are finished, the new and improved Homer Street campus will be thriving once again with existing and new programs and services to meet the needs of the communities we serve for many years to come.”
All levels of the patient tower will be renovated and will house a Franciscan All-inclusive Care of the Elderly (PACE) Program on the ground floor. Franciscan Health Michigan City’s 14-bed inpatient Behavioral Medicine Unit also will be relocated from the building’s fifth floor to the second floor.
Franciscan also is meeting with other community groups to offer programs and services at the renovated Homer Street campus.
