UChicago Medicine Crown Point is scheduled to open April 29. The two-story, 130,000-square-foot facility is the health system's first freestanding center in Northwest Indiana.

Construction off Interstate 65 and 109th Avenue took 20 months and is the culmination of a market analysis of patient needs. UChicago Medicine staff discovered that about 15% of patients in the Region seek medical care outside the area. About 1 in 5 of those patients seek care from UChicago Medicine.

“We’re excited to bring the forefront of medicine to people in Northwest Indiana who would otherwise have to travel long distances to access highly specialized care,” said Dr. Blase Polite, physician-in-chief for Northwest Indiana, in a press release. “We look forward to joining the community and collaborating with local providers who have patients that can benefit from our services.”

Services will include pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, along with other specialty services.

“We see this as an opportunity to establish a strong partnership with the local health system and to serve area residents, many of whom have been UChicago Medicine patients for years,” Polite said.

The system's largest offsite location is in addition to other smaller medical offices in Merrillville, Munster and Schererville.

That includes four locations of Michiana Hematology Oncology, which was acquired last September. The Crown Point location will move into the new Crown Point facility at 10855 Virginia St.

UChicago Medicine Cancer Care Center at Chesterton and UChicago Medicine Cancer Care Center at Valparaiso both will remain at their current sites.

Patients can begin making appointments at the new facility March 18.

Caption: UChicago Medicine Crown Point is scheduled to open April 29. (Provided by UChicago Medicine)