Franciscan Health broke ground Tuesday on a new 82,881-square-foot medical building in the Eastport Centre business park in Valparaiso. The two-story building at 3400 Mariposa Drive will be north of Ivy Tech Community College. “This medical campus will be our fifth location in Valparaiso,” said Amy Dietz, administrative director of physician practices for Franciscan Physician Network Michigan City. The Valparaiso medical campus is expected to open in fall 2026. It will house Franciscan Express Care; Working Well employer clinic; outpatient imaging including X-ray, CT scan, MRI and ultrasound; and stress echocardiogram testing. In addition, it will have space for seven physician clinics with a total of 63 exam rooms. Franciscan plans to offer orthopedics, podiatry, pain management, urology and vascular surgery, among others. There also will be room for a future ambulatory surgery center, Dietz said. Dean Mazzoni, president and CEO of Franciscan Health Dyer, Munster and Michigan City, said the new facility has been in the works for five years or more. The pandemic set back the process two or three years. “We’ll soon be offering increased access to high-quality services in one convenient location in our Franciscan tradition of providing healthcare with joy, compassion and love,” Mazzoni said. “This is our first big step toward what is a multi-phase plan to grow with Valparaiso. We look forward to a long and active presence here.” “Valparaiso and southern Porter County is a growing market for us,” he said. Franciscan Health officials break ground for a new 82,881-square-foot medical building on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024, just north of Ivy Tech Community College’s campus in Valparaiso. (Doug Ross/for Post-Tribune) There are primary care physician offices nearby on LaPorte Avenue. “We believe that primary care should be available within a 10-minute drive,” Mazzoni said. Franciscan Health is partnering with Ivy Tech Community College, within walking distance of the new building, as well as Valparaiso University to train nurses and other healthcare providers, he said. Aco Sikoski, chancellor for Ivy Tech in Valparaiso, said he met with Mazzoni about two years ago and was told, “I need right now 80 nurses.” “We are super excited that they’re coming next door,” Sikoski said. The passing rate for nurses being trained at the Valparaiso campus is 100% for practical nurses and 98% for registered nurses, he said. Healthcare students do clinical rotations at Franciscan facilities, Mazzoni said. Gary Diocese Bishop Robert McClory used an aspergillum to sprinkle holy water on the audience and grounds where the groundbreaking was held. “As we bless this ground, we stand at a sacred intersection where science and technology meet grace and humanity,” he said. “As we bless this ground, we set it apart for the special purpose of healing for body, mind and spirit.” A rendering shows the exterior of the new Franciscan Health Valparaiso Medical Campus to be built at 3400 Mariposa Drive. (Franciscan Health/provided) Mayor Jon Costas pledged to do what he can to make the project be built quickly and successfully. “Hallelujah for this project,” he said. “We’re just so delighted that Franciscan has decided to expand its services here in our great and growing city.” “The reputation that your group has is amazing. They provide care to me personally, and I know our citizens will benefit,” Costas said. “It’s exciting to think of all the healing touches that will happen right on this ground that we’re sitting on right now.” Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.