Supporters have high hopes for new Wishard

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Marion County voters overwhelmingly approved plans for a new, $754 million Wishard Hospital in Tuesday night's special election.

On Wednesday, Wishard moved forward signing a land swap agreement with IUPUI officials. It gives Wishard the right to go ahead with construction plans on a prime site. Unlike its screaming sirens, Wishard Hospital appears to no longer be in a state of emergency.

"We're elated! We're just ecstatic!" said Matthew Gutwein, chief executive officer of the Marion County Health & Hospital Corporation.

Supporters are ecstatic because roughly 85 percent of Marion County voters on Election Day said "yes" to at least $600 million in public financing for a brand new Wishard Hospital.

"It will be an efficient facility, a safe facility, a user friendly facility, a green facility," Gutwein said Wednesday.

Wishard officials held their first post Election Day meeting on the project Wednesday. They said the faster they move now, the cheaper the project.

The new 1.2 million square foot Wishard Hospital complex will be located at the site of the old state health department on Michigan Street. This is among several buildings that are abandoned that they're planning to tear down. Demolition begins next week.

In addition to the $154 million down payment Wishard is footing, it also now has the $6 million Fairbanks Foundation grant that came with the passing of the referendum.

Some Hoosiers told 24-Hour News 8 they believe the project moving forward is a good move for the city.

"Not only will it take care of people who cannot take care of themselves financially with their medical needs, but it will help in educating our doctors and our nurses and benefit the other hospitals that are around," said Marion County resident Jill Hall.

"I worked for a little bit over in the Wishard offices and they just have such a large input of people coming in and not enough, you know, facility to support all of those people. So, I think it's a great idea," said Simona Kryjanovski, a nursing student at IUPUI.

Construction begins come spring and the entire new hospital facility should be completed by the end of 2013.