Press Releases (2005)

Open House Planned for Elkhart General’s new West Wing
January 4, 2005

Elkhart, IN -- A free Community Open House will be held at Elkhart General Hospital’s new three-level West Wing on Saturday, January 15, from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.  

The Open House will include tours by clinical specialists, door prizes, free body fat analysis and mini-massages by certified massage therapists, plus a variety of educational displays and health information. Patients are not yet being cared for in the new building, which has been under construction for well over two years. The $65-million, 181,680 square-foot structure consists of three levels, one below ground and two above.

“The West Wing allows us to centralize many services, chief among them Women’s Services,” reports Greg Lintjer, Elkhart General President. “The project also includes a new Main Entrance and an improved Admitting Department and waiting area designed for the comfort of our customers. Our parking garages will now have direct access to the West Wing, which leads to the rest of the Hospital as well.” The new facility is designed to seamlessly connect to the existing Hospital.

“Our understanding of healing has changed dramatically over the years,” Lintjer says. “We know that people are more comfortable emotionally and spiritually when they are in warm environments where space, light, and color all play a role.” Relaxing colors, skylights, a water wall, and a garden-like courtyard are all features of the new West Wing, he points out.

All the Hospital’s Women’s Services are relocating to the West Wing, including a second floor Maternity Center with 36 Labor-Delivery-Recovery and Post-partum (LDRP) beds which allow the entire birthing experience to take place in one room. The Maternity Center includes a well baby nursery, an eight-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and a state-of-the-art infant protection system. C-sections are performed on the same floor, which minimizes disruption to the overall birthing experience.

The first floor will house the services now being provided at the Women’s Center located on the Elkhart General Goshen Campus on U.S. 33 near Lowe’s. Among the services being transferred to the West Wing when the Goshen Center closes on January 11 are the Bone Health Clinic, Urinary Continence Clinic, Menopause Clinic, Fibromyalgia self-help classes, LifeSteps Weight Management classes, Postpartum Depression Counseling, Women’s Resource Center, and massage therapy.

Another major program on the first floor is the Breast Care Center, which will be the first in the State of Indiana to offer Full Field Digital Mammography to all women. The benefits of this new technology include faster examination times, reduced radiation doses, and reduced likelihood of being called back for additional images.

The lower level of the new wing involves an expanded and renovated Cancer Center, particularly the Radiation Oncology Center, a project designed to provide patients and their families with the best experience possible during what can be particularly sensitive times. The Lower Level also contains a completely new Ambulatory Infusion Center, a courtyard with fountain, and a Cancer Learning Center.

With long range planning in mind, the new building was designed to grow vertically. It is constructed to accommodate a total of ten stories of replacement facility, should it become necessary in the future.

The Main Entrance of the West Wing is expected to open January 17 with most services fully operational by the end of January. For more information, contact Elkhart General Community Relations at (574) 523-3303.