New Wishard project moving along smoothly 9.8.10

WTHR – 13

Indianapolis - The new Wishard Hospital is on time and under budget. It's smaller than the current facility, and organizers say that's better for patients. We got a better look at the hospital still three years away from completion.

The new Wishard will feature a 327-bed in-patient hospital and a 90-bed emergency room. It will have large amounts of natural light and a parking garage with 2,800 spaces. But above all, hospital leaders say the new Wishard will be centered on patients.

"A hospital that is warm, embracing, compassionate, safe, simple to use, easy to navigate," said Matt Gutwein, president and CEO of Marion County Health and Hospital Corp.

Mayor Greg Ballard touted the 4,400 jobs needed to complete the project and said taxpayers have saved a mountain of money.

"We have saved hundreds of millions of dollars against projections through the bond financing rates that we now have in the city," said the mayor.

Construction crews are making progress on the project which sits at the western end of the IUPUI campus. Once it's completed in 2013, the hospital will be 33-percent smaller than the current Wishard but will serve 20 percent more patients.

"We have 100 percent private rooms which is great for infection control. It's a more healing environment. It's more comforting to our patients. It gives them the privacy they need," said Gutwein.

We won't see the finished product for three more years. The new Wishard is scheduled for completion in 2013.
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