University of Chicago Medicine plans to open a new 43,500-square-foot medical care facility in Valparaiso, offering primary care, diagnostic imaging, laboratory services, infusion services and specialty care, with an expected opening in 2027. The project would expand the health system's existing presence in the city and mark its latest push into Northwest Indiana.
According to Newswise, renovations and interior buildout of the Valparaiso facility are set to begin later this year. The health system says the project is intended to expand access to care in Northwest Indiana and strengthen connections to its more advanced and specialized health-system services, and that the expansion will offer a broader range of care closer to patients' homes.
Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas said partnerships that expand access to high-quality healthcare are increasingly important to the community, per the same report. Amy Ross said demand for UChicago Medicine's physicians and programs is growing in Northwest Indiana, while Krista Curell said UChicago Medicine is investing in new and expanded access points across Chicago, the South Side, the Southland and Northwest Indiana, the outlet notes.
A Growing Regional Network
UChicago Medicine's Northwest Indiana network already includes a multispecialty care center in Crown Point and locations in Munster, Merrillville and Valparaiso, the report states. UChicago Medicine Northwest Indiana is described as bringing academic medicine to the Valparaiso community.
Separately, the University of Chicago Medicine medical group is opening a primary care location in Valparaiso with two providers on site, according to Northwest Indiana Business Magazine. The health system anticipates approximately 13,000 patient visits there in its first year, growing to roughly 18,000 annual visits in subsequent years, and expects to eventually expand the practice to about four or five primary care physicians. That primary care location complements the UChicago Cancer Care Center at 2505 Valley Drive in Valparaiso, where four doctors currently take appointments, the outlet reports.
UChicago Medicine already operates a Valparaiso — Cumberland location at 1231 Cumberland Crossing Drive, according to UChicago Medicine, offering primary care, laboratory testing, specimen collection and immunizations. Its Valparaiso cancer center is at 2505 Valley Drive.
Health Needs Assessment Points to Regional Gaps
The expansion comes after UChicago Medicine Northwest Indiana released its first Community Health Needs Assessment and Community Health Improvement Plan, based on input from more than 700 residents and stakeholders gathered over a 12-month process. Participants were surveyed and interviewed between September and November 2025, and the assessment covered residents across 20 ZIP codes spanning Crown Point, Gary, Hammond, Hobart and Merrillville, per UChicago Medicine.
The assessment identified access to care and significant regional health needs, including female breast cancer, colorectal cancer, heart disease and stroke as leading causes of death in the region. It also found that issues related to nutrition, physical activity and weight play major roles in community health, and reported that 14.6% of people in the service area live in poverty while 37.9% are food insecure. The resulting Community Health Improvement Plan sets goals focused on cancer outcomes, heart disease and stroke, and healthier eating, physical activity and weight.
Crown Point Expansion Already Underway
The Valparaiso announcement follows an expansion at UChicago Medicine's Crown Point facility, which plans to grow its 130,000-square-foot building by roughly 7,500 square feet. That project will add clinical exam rooms and expanded imaging, procedural and surgical capacity.
An earlier assessment forecast more than 110,000 patients would use the Crown Point care center annually. Before Crown Point opened, roughly 15% of Northwest Indiana patients were traveling outside the region for medical care, the health system has said.
The Valparaiso project is part of a broader footprint expansion for UChicago Medicine, which is also building a 575,000-square-foot standalone cancer care and research facility on the University of Chicago Medical Center's South Side campus in Chicago. Taken together, the projects reflect what Curell described as investment in new and expanded access points spanning Chicago, the South Side, the Southland and Northwest Indiana.
