Cancer Center construction beginning

Work on the Cancer Center expansion is underway. Construction equipment moved in recently to prepare the construction site, which extends over the existing parking area adjacent to the Emergency Room entrance.

Special parking accommodations for cancer physicians, staff and patients will extend through the construction phase.


When complete, the new Cancer Center will be two stories and include outpatient treatment care and several other services. (Inpatient care will be provided in the new patient tower facing I-65.)

New Indianapolis campus lab open

The newly expanded outpatient lab is now open at St. Francis—Indianapolis, conveniently located near Entrance 6, in the space formerly occupied by the gift shop. This construction is part of the Indianapolis consolidation project that includes the new inpatient tower on the east side of the campus.

Hours are 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays.

Heart Center entrance reopens

We are pleased to announce that the Heart Center entrance has been reopened ahead of schedule. Thank you to our patients and visitors for their patience!

Wound Care Institute offers faster, innovative care

The Wound Care Institute at St. Francis will be among the first hospital departments to transition from its Beech Grove current location to the new Indianapolis campus patient tower.

The move will take place in March 2011, just in time for the grand opening, to the first floor of the tower. Since 1998, Beech Grove has been home to the Wound Care Institute. A second location opened in Mooresville in 2009.

What changes will you notice during the Wound Care Institute grand opening? You’ll see more patient rooms and advanced technology, including a second hyperbaric oxygen chamber. The first chamber was obtained by St. Francis in August 2009.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is the breathing of pressurized oxygen and has been shown to optimize healing, particularly for those at risk of losing a limb. The chamber compresses the molecules in the air and allows the compressed oxygen to enter small blood vessels and tissue it would not normally be able to penetrate. This increases the healing process, blood flow and the chances of saving a limb. It also helps alleviate pain.

HBOT usually lasts 90 minutes per treatment, and patients come to the Wound Care Institute five days a week for six weeks to receive treatment. HBOT treatments are optimal for patients with complicated wounds such as diabetic ulcers, post-surgical foot wounds, bone infection and treatment-radiated bed wounds..

Adding the second hyperbaric chamber offers patients faster service and more flexibility with their treatment regimens. It is just one of the many treatment options used to accelerate wound healing available at St. Francis.

“We are excited about our new, centralized location and user-friendly space,” said Amira Kehoe, manager of the Wound Care Institute and Enterostomal Therapy. “Patient care is our highest priority, and these new features will give our patients the opportunity to experience healing in a new way.”

Construction continues on surgery suites

Brian Phillips (left), project manager with Tonn and Blank Construction, recently took members of the St. Francis Community Relations and Marketing department and representatives from the Borshoff agency on a tour of the new patient tower construction site. The new surgery suites, located on the second floor, are taking shape. Mounts for lights and cameras are being installed in the ceilings of the surgical suites. A separate air-handling system for the surgical suites is also housed on the second floor.