IU Health Bloomington Hospital officials announced they would not build a new facility at the current site, leaving their 86 acres at the southeast corner of Ind. 46 and Curry Pike as the likely site for a new building. David Snodgress | Herald-Times
IU Healthannounced Friday that it will no longer consider building a replacement Bloomington hospital on its current downtown site.
The hospital still plans to build a new facility, pending funding approval from the IU Health board of directors, according to a news release. No construction date or specific location to build a replacement hospital has been set, according to hospital spokeswoman Amanda Roach.
In December, IU Health Bloomington Hospital’s board of directors presented a formal request to the IU Health system’s board to build a replacement facility, either building on its current downtown location or on the 85 acres the hospital owns off Curry Pike.
In its analysis of the state of the current hospital, the IU Health system determined that rebuilding would not be feasible due to space limitations and cost. The 279-bed hospital sits on 24 acres, and at least double that area would be needed “to be able to build the kind of facility we know we’ll need moving into the future,” Roach said.
Construction costs to rebuild would also be millions of dollars more than costs associated with building a new hospital, according to Roach, and would take two to three times longer than building at an open space.
“We’re looking at our patients having to be seen in a facility that’s under construction for years and years,” Roach said.
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