March 12, 2021 at 7:39 p.m.
Work underway
Capital improvements at IU?Health Jay are expected to be complete by the end of 2021
Work underway
Jay County’s hospital is in the midst of a year-long makeover.
Work is already underway at IU Health Jay on projects that were announced in December and will continue throughout 2021.
The hospital work stems from $5 million that IU Health set aside for capital improvements as part of its integration with Jay County Hospital. (The agreement was reached in November 2017, with integration following a few months later.)
The IU Health Jay Board was responsible for deciding what to do with those funds and in December announced plans for projects to relocate outpatient physical therapy, outpatient behavioral health and cardiac and pulmonary outpatient rehabilitation from satellite buildings to the hospital and expand the Family First practice. Those projects are expected to cost about $3.75 million. The remaining $1.25 million has been transferred to The Portland Foundation to establish the IU Health Jay Hospital Legacy Endowment Fund to “benefit the health and well-being of the residents of Jay County.”
IU Health Jay president Jon Vanator explained that when looking at how to spend the $5 million, the board focused on investments that would serve the hospital well for the long term. They used market and demographic data as part of that evaluation.
“What sort of things do we think are going to grow?” said Vanator, noting oncology, cardiology and orthopedics tend to be at the top of the list. “And those have been IU Health’s three target areas for the last couple of years and it’s really no different here.”
Primary care and surgery are two other key areas. But Vanator noted they are both going through significant change, specifically citing the shift to telemedicine for primary care during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
He added staff leaders were consulted to help cultivate ideas.
“A lot of them really helped with input on the plans,” he said. “We can incorporate a lot of those good ideas that people have always had tucked away in the back of their head into our plans.”
One part of the renovations is already complete, with a new educational area created at the southeast corner of the hospital’s second floor. That area includes classroom space as well as a former patient room which now serves as a simulation room. The renovations were handled by IU Health’s in-house maintenance staff.
The first of the four major portions of the renovations is underway with three others to follow.
Family First
The Family First offices, which are situated at the center of the hospital on its south side, will be expanded to the north.
The project, which is already underway, will expand the practice by about 1,500 square feet to a total of 6,040 square feet.
The practice will get additional space for evaluating patients and will be generally repurposed to better utilize space.
“It helps by adding more exam rooms, but also it helps with the workflow too,” said Jennifer Dale, regional facility manager for IU Health. “We had a lot of exam rooms that were there that were tied up with being employee areas.”
It is scheduled to be complete by the end of June, with a new doctor expected to join the practice July 1. The expansion is estimated at a cost of $767,500.
The expansion of Family First was planned to include the hospital’s Healthy Beginnings program, which was implemented last year as the facility phased out birthing services. But the program has grown faster than expected. For that reason, Healthy Beginnings will get its own dedicated space, located across the hallway west of First Family.
“With all the stuff they’ve got going, it won’t even fit in the back (of Family First),” said Vanator.
Like the educational area on the second floor, the new Healthy Beginnings space is being handled by in-house staff.
“They’ve got some space carved out now,” said Vanator. “That was kind of a late addition to the plan, but it fit nicely.”
Cardiac and pulmonary
IU Health Jay’s cardiac and pulmonary outpatient rehabilitation services will be shifted from its current home in the Jay Family Medicine building to space on the hospital’s second floor.
Like Family First, the unit will get expanded space, from about 1,191 square feet to 3,500 square feet. But just as important is the space will be designed specifically for cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation. The current unit is located is space which previously served as Dr. Stephen Myron’s office.
“They have a really small blueprint over there at Jay Family Medicine,” said Dale. “They’re going to be increasing their footprint and then also making it much more efficient as far as their space goes.”
Rather than being split off into rooms, the new unit will have more of an open concept modeled after the one at IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie. It will include a short track for walking and testing.
“It’s a pretty big improvement as far as the facility space goes,” said Vanator.
The work, estimated at $821,100, is scheduled to begin in May, with the unit to open in September.
Physical therapy
IU Health Jay’s outpatient physical therapy service will make the move from the former Vormohr building on county road 100 South to the area of IU Health Jay which at one time housed inpatient behavioral health on the north side of the hospital. That unit was shut down in early 2020 and the rooms were converted to negative pressure for treatment of COVID-19 patients.
For the outpatient physical therapy unit, it will represent an increase to 4,500 square feet from the current 3,265 square feet. And, like the cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation unit, the space will be designed for physical therapy (modeled after the unit at IU Health Blackford) rather than being converted former medical offices.
“It was just a space where we put something to make it work whereas this will be much better for patient flow and having everything in one specific location,” said IU Health Jay chief nursing officer Christina Schemenaur.
The renovation will also include the addition of an exam room for the adjacent emergency department.
The project is estimated at $1.26 million with plans to start construction in June and open in October.
Behavioral health
Like physical therapy, IU Health Jay’s outpatient behavioral health unit will shift from the former Vormohr building to the hospital. Current administrative office space on the north side of the hospital will be slimmed down to accommodate the unit.
Like the other relocations, the move is intended to make the unit more user friendly for both patients and health care providers. (The total space will stay the same at about 3,500 square feet.) The goal is also to make sure proper technology is in place to accommodate new services, such as the Virtual Intensive Outpatient Program that was implemented last summer.
“A lot of the stuff is getting more high tech,” said Vanator.
There will also be a direct patient entrance for the behavioral health unit on the north side of the building to improve privacy. The hospital’s employee entrance will be moved to the northwest corner of the building.
In addition to the various improvements to the facilities, Vanator added it will be helpful to have staff on a single campus. (Once the former Vormohr building is vacated by hospital staff, it will be put up for sale.)
“There’s something to be said about having people together,” said Vanator.
The outpatient behavior health work, estimated at a cost of $1.16 million, is expected to begin late this summer and be completed no later than Dec. 31.
“The intent is to have all of these projects finished by the end of the year,” said Dale.
Work is already underway at IU Health Jay on projects that were announced in December and will continue throughout 2021.
The hospital work stems from $5 million that IU Health set aside for capital improvements as part of its integration with Jay County Hospital. (The agreement was reached in November 2017, with integration following a few months later.)
The IU Health Jay Board was responsible for deciding what to do with those funds and in December announced plans for projects to relocate outpatient physical therapy, outpatient behavioral health and cardiac and pulmonary outpatient rehabilitation from satellite buildings to the hospital and expand the Family First practice. Those projects are expected to cost about $3.75 million. The remaining $1.25 million has been transferred to The Portland Foundation to establish the IU Health Jay Hospital Legacy Endowment Fund to “benefit the health and well-being of the residents of Jay County.”
IU Health Jay president Jon Vanator explained that when looking at how to spend the $5 million, the board focused on investments that would serve the hospital well for the long term. They used market and demographic data as part of that evaluation.
“What sort of things do we think are going to grow?” said Vanator, noting oncology, cardiology and orthopedics tend to be at the top of the list. “And those have been IU Health’s three target areas for the last couple of years and it’s really no different here.”
Primary care and surgery are two other key areas. But Vanator noted they are both going through significant change, specifically citing the shift to telemedicine for primary care during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
He added staff leaders were consulted to help cultivate ideas.
“A lot of them really helped with input on the plans,” he said. “We can incorporate a lot of those good ideas that people have always had tucked away in the back of their head into our plans.”
One part of the renovations is already complete, with a new educational area created at the southeast corner of the hospital’s second floor. That area includes classroom space as well as a former patient room which now serves as a simulation room. The renovations were handled by IU Health’s in-house maintenance staff.
The first of the four major portions of the renovations is underway with three others to follow.
Family First
The Family First offices, which are situated at the center of the hospital on its south side, will be expanded to the north.
The project, which is already underway, will expand the practice by about 1,500 square feet to a total of 6,040 square feet.
The practice will get additional space for evaluating patients and will be generally repurposed to better utilize space.
“It helps by adding more exam rooms, but also it helps with the workflow too,” said Jennifer Dale, regional facility manager for IU Health. “We had a lot of exam rooms that were there that were tied up with being employee areas.”
It is scheduled to be complete by the end of June, with a new doctor expected to join the practice July 1. The expansion is estimated at a cost of $767,500.
The expansion of Family First was planned to include the hospital’s Healthy Beginnings program, which was implemented last year as the facility phased out birthing services. But the program has grown faster than expected. For that reason, Healthy Beginnings will get its own dedicated space, located across the hallway west of First Family.
“With all the stuff they’ve got going, it won’t even fit in the back (of Family First),” said Vanator.
Like the educational area on the second floor, the new Healthy Beginnings space is being handled by in-house staff.
“They’ve got some space carved out now,” said Vanator. “That was kind of a late addition to the plan, but it fit nicely.”
Cardiac and pulmonary
IU Health Jay’s cardiac and pulmonary outpatient rehabilitation services will be shifted from its current home in the Jay Family Medicine building to space on the hospital’s second floor.
Like Family First, the unit will get expanded space, from about 1,191 square feet to 3,500 square feet. But just as important is the space will be designed specifically for cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation. The current unit is located is space which previously served as Dr. Stephen Myron’s office.
“They have a really small blueprint over there at Jay Family Medicine,” said Dale. “They’re going to be increasing their footprint and then also making it much more efficient as far as their space goes.”
Rather than being split off into rooms, the new unit will have more of an open concept modeled after the one at IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie. It will include a short track for walking and testing.
“It’s a pretty big improvement as far as the facility space goes,” said Vanator.
The work, estimated at $821,100, is scheduled to begin in May, with the unit to open in September.
Physical therapy
IU Health Jay’s outpatient physical therapy service will make the move from the former Vormohr building on county road 100 South to the area of IU Health Jay which at one time housed inpatient behavioral health on the north side of the hospital. That unit was shut down in early 2020 and the rooms were converted to negative pressure for treatment of COVID-19 patients.
For the outpatient physical therapy unit, it will represent an increase to 4,500 square feet from the current 3,265 square feet. And, like the cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation unit, the space will be designed for physical therapy (modeled after the unit at IU Health Blackford) rather than being converted former medical offices.
“It was just a space where we put something to make it work whereas this will be much better for patient flow and having everything in one specific location,” said IU Health Jay chief nursing officer Christina Schemenaur.
The renovation will also include the addition of an exam room for the adjacent emergency department.
The project is estimated at $1.26 million with plans to start construction in June and open in October.
Behavioral health
Like physical therapy, IU Health Jay’s outpatient behavioral health unit will shift from the former Vormohr building to the hospital. Current administrative office space on the north side of the hospital will be slimmed down to accommodate the unit.
Like the other relocations, the move is intended to make the unit more user friendly for both patients and health care providers. (The total space will stay the same at about 3,500 square feet.) The goal is also to make sure proper technology is in place to accommodate new services, such as the Virtual Intensive Outpatient Program that was implemented last summer.
“A lot of the stuff is getting more high tech,” said Vanator.
There will also be a direct patient entrance for the behavioral health unit on the north side of the building to improve privacy. The hospital’s employee entrance will be moved to the northwest corner of the building.
In addition to the various improvements to the facilities, Vanator added it will be helpful to have staff on a single campus. (Once the former Vormohr building is vacated by hospital staff, it will be put up for sale.)
“There’s something to be said about having people together,” said Vanator.
The outpatient behavior health work, estimated at a cost of $1.16 million, is expected to begin late this summer and be completed no later than Dec. 31.
“The intent is to have all of these projects finished by the end of the year,” said Dale.
Top Stories
9/11 NEVER FORGET Mobile Exhibit
Chartwells marketing
September 17, 2024 7:36 a.m.
Events
250 X 250 AD