Five Years of Riverview Health Westfield Hospital

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BY AMY ADAMS
The Current in Westfield

In recognition of the fifth anniversary of Riverview Health Westfield Hospital, leaders of Riverview Health plan for future expansion to meet the health care needs of the community.

“We celebrated, but it’s hard to celebrate when we’re busy running a hospital,” Riverview Health President and CEO Dave Hyatt said of the anniversary. “Our main goal is to be the provider for health for Westfield residents.”

At the time of groundbreaking on the prime property at U.S. 31 and Ind. 32 in early March 2016, the City of Westfield and Riverview Health planned for the facility to be an outpatient care center. By January 2017, those plans had broadened to a full hospital to include emergency, surgical and inpatient services.

When the ribbon cutting and grand-opening tours of the first and second floors took place on Aug. 30, 2018, those floors housed emergency and urgent care, operating rooms, lab services, state-of-the-art imaging services, an employer clinic, a pharmacy and a handful of inpatient beds.

“At the time, we really wanted to get emergency services open as soon as possible,” said Tammi Nash, Riverview Health’s vice president and chief nursing officer. She served as director of Riverview Health Westfield Hospital and was clinically responsible for getting the hospital open.

Within just a few months of the grand-opening tours, the third through sixth floors opened in Jan. 2019, with more services, including being the first hospital in the state of Indiana to install ExcelsiusGPS, a robotic spinal navigation system for surgery.

Having begun her career as a critical care nurse in 1988 and spending 35 years working with Riverview, Nash has witnessed the health provider’s growth. Now, she oversees strategic and operational initiatives that affect nursing practices and ensure compassionate, high-quality care.

Riverview Health Westfield Hospital’s emergency room and urgent care has a fully staffed emergency department, according to Nash. The combination of emergency and urgent care means that patients can be treated and billed according to the level of care they need, including access to a fully functional outpatient imaging center with MRI, CT, ultrasound and X-ray, as well as lab service on the same floor.

“Riverview really punches outside its class with technology,” Hyatt said.

Riverview Health Westfield Hospital provides patients some of the latest innovations in health care, including 3D mammograms and Dual X-ray Absorptiometry scans in the Bone and Breast Center. DEXA scans show bone density and even muscle mass and can be self-scheduled.

The second-floor surgery center stays busy with everything from hand surgeries to cataract surgeries. In September, a CORI Surgical System from Smith+Nephew was installed to provide the latest in image-free smart mapping for joint surgeries like total knee and hip replacements.

“Our new orthopedic surgery robots are a prime example of investing in technology that will help get our patients out of the hospital faster and have a smoother recovery,” Hyatt said. “Any investment in providing better patient care is a great investment.”

On the third flood, the Pain Management Center treats patients who struggle with issues like migraines and chronic back pain.

Another offering that has been part of the hospital from the beginning is the employer-based health clinic, now housed on the fifth floor. Newly revamped, Riverview Health at Work combines the employer clinic with occupational health and corporate wellness to provide more comprehensive healthcare for their own employees and families, plus those of the City of Westfield and Westfield Washington Schools.

With Westfield being the sixth-fastest growing city in the U.S., Riverview Health leaders recognize the need to grow as Westfield grows. For example, Hyatt said Riverview plans to grow employee-provided health care by about 20 percent.

“You’re going to see some new Riverview Health facilities in the next couple of years,” Hyatt said. “We planted our flag at the Westfield Hospital, but we want to be closer to people in the community. That means having access to primary care closer to home. We have already added new physicians, and we will continue to do that.”

Dr. Bryce Buente is the newest family medicine doctor.

“As we grow with primary care, you will begin to see more specialists, as well,” Hyatt said.

Gastroenterologist Dr. Timothy Imler is the latest specialist brought on board.

Hyatt said that the spread of family care into the community will allow more space for acute care within the hospital. Yet even the hospital walls won’t limit the anticipated growth. The large grassy space to the east of the hospital at the corner of Ind. 32 and Shamrock Boulevard offers the hospital the potential for expansion.

“As the hospital continues to get full, we have room for expansion,” Hyatt said. “I don’t expect the campus will look the same in 10 years.”

A Westfield resident, Hyatt doesn’t merely want to see Riverview Health extend out into Westfield. He said he wants to ensure it is the best place in the area to work and to receive care.

The Leapfrog Hospital Survey, which is the nation’s gold standard in evaluating hospital performance, has given Riverview Health Westfield Hospital its highest rating — an A-rated hospital — with areas such as safe medication ordering and administration, percentage of staff who are registered nurses and bedside care earning top honors.

“We have a great care team, and they have taken care of most of our family members,” Hyatt said. “I always say, ‘The care we provide has to be good enough for my family for it to be good enough for your family.’”

Riverview Health Westfield Hospital is at 17600 Shamrock Blvd. For more, call 317-214-5555 or visit riverview.org.