Indiana University Health, one of the state’s largest health care providers, announced this week it is taking “a step back” on a planned new patient tower that carried a price tag as high as $500 million.
The decision is due to uncertainty surrounding the new federal health-care law and the economy, hospital president Jim Terwilliger said in an internal letter to donors that was later released to the press.
The building project had been planned for the Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.
“We believed the project would have started by now, but because of several external factors, we have delayed the construction until we can fully ensure the design of the new critical-care bed tower will align with the future health care environment,” Terwilliger said in the letter.
A spokesman said the “lingering recession” and health care reform uncertainties delayed the construction, according to a report in the Indianapolis Star.
No new timeline was released. IU Health, formerly known as Clarian Health Partners Inc., is a 16-hospital system headquartered in Indianapolis.
