Parkview Health, long known as northeast Indiana's dominant hospital system, has spent the past year pushing hard into central Indiana, breaking ground on a $200 million hospital near Purdue University while working to absorb county-owned health systems in Boone and Hamilton counties. The moves mark a significant shift for a system that spent decades concentrated around Fort Wayne, and they're reshaping the healthcare landscape for communities from Lebanon to Lafayette.
On July 27, Parkview broke ground on a nearly 200,000-square-foot hospital and medical office building in West Lafayette, built on land acquired from the Purdue Research Foundation. According to the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, the $200 million project is expected to open in June 2028 with up to 40 beds, expandable to 100, and will create 250 healthcare jobs. The Lafayette/West Lafayette area is currently served by two hospitals in the IU Health and Franciscan Health systems, and local officials and business leaders have said the region's growth made clear the need for a new option, according to a podcast discussion covered by Indianapolis Business Journal. That IBJ podcast featured Dr. Greg Johnson and John Bowen, who lead Parkview's growth effort, discussing what differentiates the system from other health networks and how it determines demand before entering a new market, including plans to staff the West Lafayette hospital.
Boone County's Witham Hospital Awaits Final Sign-Off
The West Lafayette project isn't Parkview's only central Indiana move. Lebanon-based Witham Health Services signed a non-binding letter of intent on April 7 to join Parkview, bringing its 60-bed acute care hospital, roughly 1,200 employees, $555.7 million in 2024 revenue, and clinics across Crawfordsville, Frankfort, Jamestown, Thorntown, Zionsville and Whitestown into the fold, the station's report notes. Parkview is still working through the agreement with Witham, which operates several clinics across the Boone County area, and under the deal Witham's hospital would come under Parkview's purview.
That outcome is far from finalized. Final authorization still requires regulatory review and approval votes from the Boone County Commissioners, the Boone County Council, and the Witham Board of Trustees, following public review opportunities, per Witham Health Services. Hoodline previously reported on Lebanon's $150M hospital plan at Hickory Junction, and Boone County's lack of a full-service trauma hospital was cited again earlier this month after a car crashed through a Lebanon home, injuring two people.
Riverview Health Deal Focuses On Finances And Tech
In Hamilton County, Parkview has already moved further along with Riverview Health, a county-owned hospital system based in Noblesville. Parkview finalized an evergreen managed-services agreement with Riverview in November 2025, taking on C-suite management responsibilities and transitioning the system to Parkview's instance of the Epic Systems electronic health record platform in February, according to Becker's Hospital Review. That arrangement is aimed at getting Riverview's finances in order while preserving county ownership.
Under the deal, Parkview manages operations across Riverview's full network, which includes a 156-bed hospital in Noblesville, a 16-bed hospital in Westfield, three ER and urgent care facilities, and 10 primary care locations, Becker's reports. Riverview originally entered discussions with Parkview to upgrade its health records system, and smaller systems often rely on larger sponsors through programs like Epic Community Connect because enterprise software is otherwise too costly to run alone.
Grant County Gets A Hybrid ER-Urgent Care Model
Parkview is also building outward in the other direction. On April 28, the system broke ground on Parkview Marion, a 28,000-square-foot freestanding facility in Grant County redeveloping a vacant commercial property near I-69 Exit 264. Inside INdiana Business reports the facility is set to open in fall 2027 with a 24/7 emergency department, urgent care, primary care and specialty services spread across 29 exam rooms.
The Marion site will use a hybrid ER and urgent care model that Parkview first introduced in Fort Wayne in 2023, evaluating walk-in patients on arrival and billing non-life-threatening conditions at lower urgent care rates rather than pricier emergency department fees. Emergency visits are typically far more expensive for patients than urgent care visits, which is part of why Parkview has leaned into the model as it expands access.
Goshen Health And A Pediatric Partnership Round Out The Push
Parkview's growth hasn't been limited to central Indiana. On June 3, Elkhart County-based Goshen Health signed a formal affiliation agreement to join Parkview, positioning its 105-bed hospital, 40 care locations and nearly 2,000 co-workers as Parkview's largest regional hub outside Fort Wayne, pending a 90-day regulatory review, according to Becker's Hospital Review. Goshen Health has served northern Indiana for more than a century.
Parkview also finalized a joint operating agreement with Cincinnati Children's in June to expand regional pediatric care, including plans to open a dedicated pediatric emergency department at Parkview Regional Medical Center in 2027. Cincinnati Children's is ranked among the top pediatric health systems nationally, and the partnership reflects Parkview's broader strategy of pairing with national specialty centers as it grows.
A System Built From A Single Fort Wayne Hospital
Parkview traces its roots to 1878, when it was founded as Fort Wayne City Hospital. It has since grown into northeast Indiana's largest employer, with more than 17,500 workers across 15 hospitals and over 300 care locations spanning 22 counties in Indiana and northwest Ohio, per Becker's. The system began expanding beyond its original Fort Wayne base in 1995, and Indianapolis Business Journal's podcast episode ties the central Indiana push to that same trajectory, with Johnson and Bowen discussing how the system decides where to plant its next flag.
Central Indiana's rapid growth around Indianapolis and Purdue University is a major driver behind the timing, with financially strained county-owned systems like Riverview and Witham increasingly turning to larger networks for scale and cheaper access to digital infrastructure. That consolidation trend leaves open questions about local governance, particularly for county-backed systems where commissioners, councils and other public bodies still must sign off before any deal becomes final.
