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$18 million expansion underway at IU Health Arnett Hospital

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WFLI) – More than 100 exam rooms, three stories and 75,000 square feet are being added on to the IU Health Arnett Hospital in Lafayette.

Operations manager Roger Bradley said the new facility will house three specialty offices including OBGYN doctors, orthopedics and surgeons.

“As people are trying to optimize their costs and their value, I think what it does is it brings a group closer to the hospital where they can collaborate better,” Bradley said. “It also will make our processes leaner – which means, in fact, that it should reduce costs.”

The first phase will open in January 2016, with the rest of the floors opening in October of the same year. Bradley said because of all the changes in health care, plans for the first floor of the expansion will develop later.

“We’re looking at those changes, and how we can incorporate them to be a little more flexible,” Bradley said. “Also, what will be the needs of the Lafayette community two, three or four years from now.”

Bradley said existing practices in the community will move into the new medical office. Because of that, he doesn’t expect many new jobs to be created.

“We’re not really looking at it as a growth, as much as an effort to really concentrate our efforts where it produces the best results for the patient,” Bradley said.

The $18 million project is on schedule and Bradley said under budget.