The city of Hammond is planning a protest of the downsizing of Franciscan Health Hammond, to voice concerns that it will create a health care desert in the city.
Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. and other community leaders will lead the protest outside the hospital at 4 p.m. Friday. Those hoping to save the hospital will gather at the Hammond Police Department at 509 Douglas St. and walk down Douglas to the hospital at 5454 Hohman Ave.
âHammond is the largest city in Northwest Indiana. It has areas of poverty and urban health care needs, yet the Franciscan Alliance wants to save money by demolishing 90% of the hospital,â McDermott said. âUrban cores around the country have seen disinvestment in health care and now Franciscan Alliance is trying to make Hammond part of the list of cities with a health care desert at the expense of those people that need health care in their community most. This decision is not putting Christian values and stewardship before profits and is in
HAMMOND â Generations of Region residents have been born, died, been treated and worked at Franciscan Health Hammond hospital, the nine-story medical facility that long has loomed large over downtown Hammond.
But the 800,000-square-foot hospital has itself passed through the cycle of life. Mishawaka-based Franciscan Health has decided that in August it will significantly downsize and demolish older parts of the 226-bed hospital, which will be reduced to an 85,000-square-foot acute care hospital, emergency department and primary care location with just eight beds for overnight stays.
For many people the announcement was personal. My son was born there, Pat Wisniewski said. It would be a significant loss to the community if it leaves Hammond.
Franciscan Health plans to significantly downsize and demolish part of one of the largest and longest-running hospitals in Northwest Indiana.
The Mishawaka-based health care provider plans to shrink the 226-bed Franciscan Health Hospital at 5454 Hohman Ave. to an 8-bed acute care hospital, emergency department and primary care location. The 800,000-square-foot Hammond campus will be shrunk to about a tenth of its size, about 85,000 square feet.
More than 120 years old, the former St. Margaret Hospital stands nine stories high and has long been an anchor of and the largest employer in downtown Hammond, which the city has been working to revitalize. More than 700 physicians affiliated with more than 50 specialties are affiliated with the hospital.
Franciscan Health plans to significantly downsize and demolish part of one of the largest and longest-running hospitals in Northwest Indiana.
The Mishawaka-based health care provider plans to shrink the 226-bed Franciscan Health Hospital at 5454 Hohman Ave. to an 8-bed acute care hospital, emergency department and primary care location. The 800,000-square-foot Hammond campus will be shrunk to about a tenth of its size, about 85,000 square feet.
More than 120 years old, the former St. Margaret Hospital stands nine stories high and has long been an anchor of and the largest employer in downtown Hammond, which the city has been working to revitalize. More than 700 physicians affiliated with more than 50 specialties are affiliated with the hospital.