IU Health Arnett adds unit, as short-term fix ahead of possible bigger expansion
14-bed observation unit expected to take pressure off inpatient beds. Plus, what you need to know about early voting, which start Tuesday in Greater Lafayette elections.
Thanks for support today from Purdue Convocations. From comedian and playwright Tina Fey, MEAN GIRLS tells the story of a naïve newbie who falls prey to a trio of lionized frenemies. Entertainment Weekly calls the show “a MARVEL: dazzling and hilarious” and New York Magazine cheers, “MEAN GIRLS delivers with immense energy and a wicked sense of humor.” Thursday, Oct. 26 at Elliott Hall of Music - GET YOUR TICKETS HERE
Thanks, also, to Purdue Musical Organizations and the Purdue Christmas Show. This December, gather the whole family and celebrate 90 years of the Purdue Christmas Show. For nearly a century, this beloved holiday tradition has captivated audiences with its dazzling performances and heartwarming messages of love, hope and unity. Watch the stage come alive in the historic Elliott Hall of Music as PMO’s incredible student talent perform beautiful secular and sacred music alongside a live orchestra. December 1-3. BUY TICKETS HERE.
IU HEALTH ARNETT ADDS UNIT AS SHORT-TERM FIX AHEAD OF POSSIBLE BIGGER EXPANSION
IU Health Arnett is prepping a new clinical observation unit as the Lafayette hospital’s short-term way to take pressure off its other beds, as Greater Lafayette continues to grow, Art Vasquez, president of the IU Health West Central Region, said Monday.
The 14-bed unit, designed to treat patients who come through the emergency room but aren’t necessarily ready to be admitted to inpatient beds at the hospital, will open Nov. 1.
Vasquez said the unit built off the emergency room was a nearly $10 million solution as the system considered a more substantial expansion for the hospital near the corner of McCarty Lane and Veterans Memorial Parkway East.
“A key reason for this is that we’re very full, very busy,” Vasquez said during a tour Monday. “This space will allow us to decompress the main hospital of lower acuity patients that are taking up an inpatient bed, bring them down here and allow patients waiting in the emergency department to go upstairs and receive care faster. More space is definitely what we need at Arnett and in the community, overall.”
Vasquez said the decision to build came in late 2021, with construction starting in 2022. He said the surge of COVID-19 three years ago put IU Health in the mindset that it needed to be ready for more patients. The hospital opened nontraditional spaces – an ambulance bay and conference rooms – to deal with the pandemic.
“Our thought back then was, what can we do quickly, in a year’s timeframe, to get us more capacity, decompress the hospital and buy us the time we need for a larger build?” Vasquez said. “What you see here was that short-term fix, capable to be redeployed for different types of space in the long-term.”
Vasquez said a decision on a larger build could come in early 2024, as IU Health looks at population growing in and around Greater Lafayette. He said that even with the intense, pandemic-driven pressure gone, the hospital’s beds are routinely near or at capacity.
IU Health Arnett currently has 191 inpatient beds, with 32 beds in the emergency room.
“The moral of the story is the community is growing,” Vasquez said. “We’re doing what we can to serve it.”
NOW WOULD BE A GOOD TIME TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE BASED IN LAFAYETTE REPORTING PROJECT.
INDIANA NAMED A REGIONAL BIOTECH RESEARCH HUB
Big news for the state dropped Monday morning, with this account coming via Indiana Business Journal reporter Peter Blanchard: “Indiana has been chosen for one of 31 technology hubs across the United States that will support growth in industries considered vital to economic development and national security, according to the Applied Research Institute, a Bloomington-based not-for-profit that submitted Indiana’s application to the federal government.”
Between $50 million and $75 million in CHIPS and Science Act money could be available in initial funding for a regional technology and innovation hub that includes Purdue among its partners. Purdue President Mung Chiang the Heartland BioWorks news in a run of recent regional hits, following federal funding for the Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen, the Silicon Crossroads Microelectronics Commons.
Chiang said in written comments: “Purdue is excited to work with ARI, and through Gov. Holcomb’s support, to win three out of three national competitions this season: in semiconductors from the Department of Defense, in hydrogen innovation from the Department of Energy, and now in biotech manufacturing from the Department of Commerce. Each is a 10% success rate opportunity, and hitting all three is yet another reflection of our excellence at scale.”
(Purdue had more on the news here: “Purdue strengths in biotech manufacturing part of new federally designated Regional Technology and Innovation Hub won by the state of Indiana.”)
The local ties also include Evonik, which recently broke ground on a $220 million biopharma expansion on its plant just southwest of Lafayette. Daniel Fricker, site manager of Evonik's Tippecanoe Labs, said in a written statement Monday: "We encourage and actively participate in BioWorks' efforts to develop the future workforce for the biomanufacturing sector, support biotech startups, and modernize biopharma manufacturing. It is an exciting time for the biotech industry in Indiana."
Here’s more from the IBJ’s story: “Feds select Indiana to be biotech hub, making it eligible for millions in funding.”
GO TIME ON EARLY VOTING
Early voting starts Tuesday, a bit later than usual, for this year’s municipal elections in Greater Lafayette.
The Tippecanoe County Election Board lopped off roughly two weeks from the typical early voting season, given the light turnout expected in an election that features a handful of contested city council races and West Lafayette Community School Corp.’s property tax referendum renewal as highlights. (The full season will return for the May primary and November general election in 2024.)
Here are the basics ahead of the Nov. 7 Election Day
EARLY VOTING SITES: Early voting ahead of the Nov. 7 election starts Tuesday, Oct. 24. Here are the times and locations. Voters should bring a valid ID.
8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 24,-Friday, Oct. 27: Tippecanoe County Office Building, 20 N. Third St., Lafayette.
8 a.m.-noon, Saturday, Oct. 28: Clarks Hill Christian Church, 9510 Pearl St., Clarks Hill.
8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday, Oct. 30-Friday, Nov. 3: Tippecanoe County Office Building, 20 N. Third St., Lafayette
Noon-6 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 2-Friday, Nov. 3: West Lafayette City Hall, 222 N. Chauncey Ave.; Tippecanoe County Fairgrounds, 1406 Teal Road, Lafayette; First Church of the Nazarene, 3801 Union St., Lafayette.
9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 4: West Lafayette City Hall, 222 N. Chauncey Ave.; Tippecanoe County Office Building, 20 N. Third St., Lafayette; First Church of the Nazarene, 3801 Union St., Lafayette.
8 a.m.-noon Monday, Nov. 6: Tippecanoe County Office Building, 20 N. Third St., Lafayette.
ELECTION DAY POLLING PLACES: Polls will be open 6 a.m-6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 7. Registered voters in Tippecanoe County may use any vote center.
West Lafayette Wellness Center, 1101 Kalberer Road
Faith West Community Center, 1920 Northwestern Ave.
West Lafayette City Hall, 222 N. Chauncey Ave.
Evangelical Covenant Church, 3600 S. Ninth St., Lafayette
Tippecanoe County Fairgrounds, 1406 Teal Road, Lafayette
Northend Community Center, 2000 Elmwood Ave., Lafayette
Christ United Methodist Church, 3610 S. 18th St., Lafayette
First Church of the Nazarene, 3801 Union St., Lafayette
Gathering Point Church, 7201 Wesleyan Drive, Dayton
ON BALLOTS: (Incumbents noted with an asterisk.)
Lafayette
Mayor: Tony Roswarski*, D; Benji Milanowski, Libertarian
Clerk: Cindy Murray*, D.
Council District 1: Jerry Reynolds*, R.
Council District 2: Eileen Hession Weiss*, D; Mary Fisher, R.
Council District 3: Perry Brown*, D.
Council District 4: Lauren Ahlersmeyer*, D; Josiah Eller, Libertarian
Council District 5: Melissa Weast Williamson*, D.
Council District 6: Bob Downing*, D; Perry Barbee, R
Council at-large (3 seats): Kevin Klinker*, D; Nancy Nargi*, D; Steve Snyder*, D.
West Lafayette
Mayor: Erin Easter, D.
Clerk: Sana Booker*, D.
City Judge: Lori Sabol*, D.
Council District 1: Aaron Abell, R; Laila Veidemanis, D.
Council District 2: Michelle Dennis, D.
Council District 3: Colin Lee*, D.
Council District 4: Larry Leverenz*, D.
Council District 5: Kathy Parker*, D; James Waters, R.
Council District 6: Jeff Brown*, R; Stacey Baitinger Burr, D.
Council at-large (3 seats): James Blanco*, D; Iris O’Donnell Bellisario, D; David Sanders*, D; Brian Russell, R; Patrick Flannelly, R.
West Lafayette Community School Corp.
Property tax referendum renewal question: “Shall West Lafayette Community School Corporation continue to impose increased property taxes paid to the school corporation by homeowners and businesses for eight (8) years immediately following the holding of the referendum for the purpose of retaining and attracting teachers and staff and funding academic programming and operating expenditures with the renewal of the current maximum referendum property tax rate of $0.37? The property tax increase requested in this referendum was originally approved by the voters in 2017 and if extended will increase the average property tax paid to the school corporation per year on a residence within the school corporation by 46.2% and if extended will increase the average property tax paid to the school corporation per year on a business property within the school corporation by 41.8%.”
Here's a link to a primer on the West Lafayette schools question, which would renew a property tax rate first approved in 2010 and again in 2017.
Dayton
Town Council (choose five, all independent): Vickie Beavers, Marc Buhrmester*, Leah Copas, Ron Koehler*, Jen Manago*, Rocky Richards, Carla Snodgrass*, Joy Tischer
Clerk-Treasurer: Bridget Cadwallader
TO CHECK YOUR VOTER REGISTRATION AND SEE YOUR SPECIFIC BALLOT: Go to the Secretary of State’s portal at www.indianavoters.com.
CANDIDATE Q&As: Look for a flow of candidate Q&As in the coming days. WBAA reporter Ben Thorp assembled side-by-side comparisons of candidates in contested city council races in Lafayette and West Lafayette.
CANDIDATE DEBATE TUESDAY: WLFI’s online site will livestream a debate between the five candidates for three at-large seats on the West Lafayette City Council at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24. The debate will be co-hosted by the League of Women Voters of Greater Lafayette. Here’s a link to the livestream.
THIS AND THAT …
NPR White House correspondent Asma Khalid, co-host of The NPR Politics Podcast, will be in Lafayette for a discussion and Q&A at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at MatchBOX Co-working Studio, 17 S. Sixth St. The free event is hosted by WBAA and WFYI, NPR affiliates in West Lafayette and Indianapolis. Khalid is an Indiana native and an IU grad. Tickets are free, available here.
Thanks, again, to Purdue Convocations, presenting MEAN GIRLS, Thursday, Oct. 26, at Elliott Hall of Music – Get your tickets here.
And thanks to Purdue Musical Organizations, celebrating 90 years of the Purdue Christmas Show, Dec. 1-3 in Elliott Hall of Music. Get tickets for one of the four performances here.
THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING BASED IN LAFAYETTE, AN INDEPENDENT, LOCAL REPORTING PROJECT. FREE AND FULL-RIDE SUBSCRIPTION OPTIONS ARE READY FOR YOU HERE.
Tips, story ideas? I’m at davebangert1@gmail.com.
If only IU would agree to be a Tier 1 provider on some people's insurance.