IU Health’s footprint in Fort Wayne keeps expanding. Since the health system first opened an office on Engle Road in August of 2018, rapid growth has followed. Now, a new 55,000 square foot medical office building will offer even more services to people living in the region.
“We have invested millions of dollars to bring high-quality IU Health providers to Fort Wayne that have improved the quality of care being delivered, while also reducing wait times for patients,” says IU Health Chief of Staff Bill Schenkel.
The new facility, located on 137 acres on Ernst Road near I-69 and Lower Huntington Road, will house nine primary care physicians, a cardiologist and an orthopedic surgeon, along with an infusion area, cardiopulmonary rehab, imaging and some community space.
Shelley Teagle oversees all of the service lines such as primary care, specialists and imaging for IU Health. Her job is to ensure that all the offices and operations are running smoothly, and she’s excited about the opportunity to help meet the needs of even more people in northeast Indiana.
“We are focused on our mission and our vision, which is providing more access for patients,” stresses Teagle. “One thing that we’re really proud of at IU Health Fort Wayne is that our patient experience scores are great. We have around 90% positive patient experience scores.”
Most of the providers at IU Health’s initial Fort Wayne location on Engle Road will move to the new Ernst Road building.
“With the addition of new services that will be provided to the community, we have outgrown our current location on Engle Road in southwest Fort Wayne. The new building location is large enough to encompass these new services and support future expansion and growth. This will also provide the opportunity to use the Southwest location to backfill with more physicians,” says Schenkel.
In addition to the Engle and Ernst Road facilities, patients can also receive care at several other Fort Wayne locations: A primary care office on Auburn Road; an urgent care center on Lima Road; a 25,000 square foot medical office building at the intersection of Stellhorn and Lahmeyer Roads that offers primary care, urgent care and radiology; a medical office in Southgate Mall; and a multi-specialty surgery center at the corner of Aboite Center and Dicke Roads.
“Because we’re ambulatory, the costs are much lower,” explains Teagle. “None of our offices or the surgery center have hospital-based charges, so it’s much more affordable for patients.”
With the state’s largest network of physicians and a partnership with Indiana University’s School of Medicine, IU Health gives patients access to a variety of specialists and leading-edge treatment options. Providers are focused on caring for the whole person and are committed to convenience.
“We have one phone number, so it’s easy for patients to call and get an appointment — they can call one number no matter what they need. We offer same-day appointments, so with our primary care doctors we make sure to allow time for that. This gives patients the opportunity to see their physician and not have to see another provider. We want to make sure that patients can get an appointment when they feel like they need to be seen,” Teagle says.
At IU Health’s seven Fort Wayne facilities, there are 40 primary care, internal medicine, specialist, advanced practitioner and surgical providers. That number is expected to increase in the coming months and years.
“We have the best physicians and the best resources and even though we’re small here in Fort Wayne, we’re growing more every day,” says Teagle.
“We are always looking for new opportunities to address the needs of the community. Our immediate plans are to continue growing our primary care, specialty and surgical services,” adds Schenkel.
