Franciscan St. Francis-Mooresville Emergency Department celebrates 5 years of serving patients

Hospital meeting critical need for residents in Mooresville and surrounding areas

MOORESVILLE, Ind. – Whether it’s a sick child in the middle of the night, a serious sports injury or a sudden severe health issue, residents of Morgan and southern Hendricks counties are turning to the area’s newest emergency department, celebrating its fifth anniversary this month.

The Emergency Department at Franciscan St. Francis Health-Mooresville has served more than 132,000 patients since it opened on Oct. 1, 2008. Since that time, the unit has grown from 14 treatment rooms to 25 and from three nurses on duty to eight. It also includes two trauma rooms and a community room for emergency services personnel.

“The number of people we are treating underscores just how badly such a service was needed in this community,” said Nathan Lowder, manager of the Mooresville Emergency Department. “We had heard of this need from many community leaders prior to our opening the ED, and since then, the response from residents has been extremely positive. While we wish no one would ever need emergency services, we’re glad we’re nearby when they do.”

Lowder recalled that opening day they expected 25 patients but had 70 people come in for care.

Lowder credits the ED’s success in large part to the staff. “We work hard to recruit and train wonderful staff,” he said. “If you work in this ED, you’ve got to be compassionate and dedicated to patient care, in addition to being well trained. You can teach procedures and protocols, but you can’t teach compassion. That has to be there already.”

Lowder noted it also helps that wait times at the Mooresville ED are generally shorter than at other area hospitals.

The Emergency Department is staffed with 60 health professionals, including board-certified emergency physicians from Emergency Physicians of Indianapolis, several specialty physicians, nurses trained in acute care and trauma situations, and in-house hospitalists (internal medicine physicians) who facilitate patient admissions.

The department is an access point for Franciscan St. Francis’ renowned Emergency Heart Attack Response Team, and ED staff is trained in hazardous materials decontamination and crisis management.

Located just south of the main hospital entrance, the Emergency Department is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The opening of the Emergency Department was the culmination of the hospital’s 2008 expansion to address the health care needs of the growing northern Morgan, Hendricks and southwestern Marion counties.

“Franciscan St. Francis – Mooresville has built on its foundation as a renowned specialty hospital – known for excellence in orthopedics, colon and rectal care, women’s services and many other areas – to become a full-service hospital, addressing all the health care needs of our community,” said Robert J. Brody, president and chief executive officer for Franciscan St. Francis.

In the same year the Emergency Department opened, the hospital grew from 258,000 square feet to 400,000, adding:

·         A new 34-bed orthopedic inpatient unit

·         A 26-bed adult medical-surgical inpatient unit

·         An eight-bed Intensive Care Unit

·         Six new operating rooms with the latest in surgical technologies;

·         A new laboratory

·         An on-site office for Indiana Heart Physicians for expanded cardiac services

Franciscan St. Francis-Mooresville and its sister hospitals in Indianapolis and Carmel are among the 13 hospitals operated by the Mishawaka, Ind.-based Franciscan Alliance.