Riley Hospital announces $500M expansion

Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapolis, which IU raises money for with its annual Dance Marathon, recently announced a plan to spend $500 million to improve its facilities and expand its hospital. The move will make it the second largest children's hospital in the country.\nRiley belongs to Clarian Health Partners, which also includes Methodist Hospital and IU's School of Medicine. \nJon Mills, public affairs manager for Clarian, said most funds for the project are not raised yet. The Riley Children's Foundation and Clarian Health's own earnings will provide the enormous amount of money for the expansion, which Mills said will affect IU and the entire state of Indiana. \n"It will have a positive impact on employees, jobs and money created," Mills said.\nRiley's new 10-story building will include an expanded pediatric trauma center, operating rooms, neonatal and pediatric intensive care units, according to a press release.\nIU provides a great benefit to Riley Hospital because of its world-class reputation for providing research, Mills said. Riley Hospital has also constructed a five-point plan to enhance the overall quality of pediatric care. One of the main points is aggressive recruitment of world-class clinicians and researchers. \n"Attracting leaders in pediatric medicine will not only enhance Riley's quality of care, it will also directly impact our state's efforts to grow in the life sciences sector," Dr. Ora Pescovitz, president and CEO of Riley, said in a press release. \nThe expansion of Riley will improve the medical program at IU as all physicians at Riley Children's Hospital are connected to the IU School of Medicine. Some are involved in research, some treat patients in the hospital and others directly teach students at the IU School of Medicine. Until 1997, the School of Medicine owned Riley Hospital and IU Hospital in Indianapolis. In 1997, Methodist Hospital, IU School of Medicine and Riley consolidated to become Clarian Health Partnership. \nAbout 36 percent of graduates from the IU School of Medicine become residents at Riley, said Nancy Baxter, director of the office of graduate medical education at the school of medicine. Medical school graduates are residents in hospitals in order to become more eligible for their field and also to gain experience. \nMany third- and fourth-year IU medical students complete internships there, where teams of IU residents and faculty supervise. Half of the IU medical students spend their first two years on a campus other than the Indianapolis campus, which is where the IU School of Medicine is headquartered. There are currently 59 medical students studying on the Bloomington campus.\n"The expansion will enable us to continue to provide excellent care," said Eric Shock, a representative of the IU School of Medicine. He also said the Riley expansion should bring more attention and an improved reputation to the school, mostly as a result of an increase in the research conducted at Riley.