Hospital changes set

IU Health Blackford will discontinue emergency services and inpatient care.

In a letter distributed to employees Tuesday, IU Health east central region president Dr. Jeff Bird announced the change that will happen over the next few months.

“This decision was not made lightly and not without extensive thought and discussion,” said Bird in the letter, which was obtained by The Commercial Review late Tuesday.

IU Health confirmed the changes in a press release issued late Wednesday morning. The organization denied a request for an interview regarding the changes.

“We are committed to providing healthcare services to the Blackford County community on a long-term basis,” said Bird in the press release. “We will continue providing primary healthcare and outpatient services to meet the needs of the residents, however with the declining patient volume at the hospital, we’ve taken steps to right-size the services that are offered.”

Patients in need of emergency and/or inpatient services will be directed to IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie or IU Health Jay in Portland, the organization’s two other facilities in its east central region.

Reasons for the shift away from emergency and inpatient care cited in the letter include “cost pressures,” declining patient numbers and an overall pattern of population loss in Blackford County. (The county’s population declined by 5% between 2010 and 2020, according to census data.) The letter also indicates that more than 75% of the county’s residents already seek inpatient care outside of the county.

“… we have been evaluating all the services provided in our region, collectively, to ensure we allocate our resources to provide the right care to the most people,” the letter says.

IU Health Blackford will continue to provide primary care and outpatient services, the letter says. It indicates that the hospital will still offer a multi-specialty clinic, the Healthy Beginnings program that focuses on prenatal and postnatal health, diagnostic imaging, CT scans, mammography, ultrasound, physical therapy, specimen collection and testing, pharmacy and the IU Health Lifeline ambulance service.

The letter also says extended hours will be evaluated.

It also indicates jobs will be impacted, though it does not provide specific details.

“… we will make every effort to support all IU Health team members that are impacted by helping them find a comparable position within IU Health or provide additional support per our IU Health policy,” the letter says.