IU Health’s new central utility plant will house a state-of-the-art power plant.
Image courtesy of Indiana University Health
Indiana University (IU) Health has announced plans for two additional projects associated with its new acute-care hospital currently under construction in downtown Indianapolis. That hospital, set to open in late 2026, will be supplemented with a new multiuse support center and utility plant
“The support building and utility plant are essential support elements for the new downtown hospital and expanded medical campus,” says James Mladucky, vice president of design and construction for IU Health. “Designed to mesh aesthetically with the evolving campus, the buildings will provide the critical logistics and energy requirements to support IU Health’s unique health care mission and ensure the efficient operation of a leading-edge academic health center that will serve future generations of Hoosiers.”
Plans filed with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Development Commission detail a support building occupying a full city block with parking, loading docks, a logistics center, offices and retail space. Parking will accommodate as many as 2,700 vehicles, up to 300 bicycles in a mobility hub and as much as 13,000 square feet of retail space. The structure and the space around it are designed to be pedestrian friendly, with ample sidewalks and landscaping featuring native plants, trees and grasses.
It will be physically connected to the new hospital by a pedestrian bridge and a utility tunnel that, although it will largely be invisible to patients and visitors, will allow the back-and-forth of supplies and equipment via automated vehicles.
The new central utility plant will be immediately south of the support building. Its state-of-the art power plant will provide the new hospital’s energy needs and be designed with sustainability features for LEED Silver certification. It will contain chillers, boilers, heat-recovery coolers, steam for sterilization, water for fire protection and backup power generators.
The new campus will consolidate IU Health’s two existing downtown adult acute care centers — Methodist Hospital and University Hospital — to provide world class, patient-centered care more efficiently in terms of cost and elimination of duplicated services.
Once the new hospital opens, IU Health will determine the future of the buildings on the existing Methodist campus, some of which date to the early 1900s. After University Hospital is decommissioned, Indiana University will take control of that site.
