HHC leaders report progress on public-health lab, EMS programs, TB and influenza response

Health and Hospital Corporation trustees received a series of operational reports on Feb. 18 covering construction projects, public-health trends, emergency medical services operations, long-term-care activity and foundation board changes.

Paul Babcock, president and CEO of HHC, said the public-health laboratory on 30th Street is underway with foundation work started and a targeted mid-September 2026 completion. He said construction on a new Indianapolis EMS headquarters is expected to begin spring 2025 with a hoped-for completion in November 2026. Babcock said HHC is monitoring federal and state legislative and regulatory developments that could affect funding for HHC divisions.

Dr. Virginia King, director and chief medical officer of the Marion County Public Health Department, announced the WIC clinic on 30th Street will relocate to a new address and is anticipated to open in June. She reported public-health staff are tracking 1,672 patients with latent tuberculosis infection; she said that represented a 15% increase from 2023 and a 63% increase since 2022. The department also saw 1,523 refugees in 2024 for initial visits from more than 50 countries, and completed 989 physician visits and 414 civil-surgery clinic encounters for that population.

King warned the county is experiencing very high influenza activity and elevated respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and another viral respiratory illness. She said emergency departments are seeing a disproportionate share of visits for flu-like illness, particularly among children: 5-to-17-year-olds and 0-to-4-year-olds showed the highest emergency-department visit percentages. King noted Marion County public-health programs provided nearly 30,000 immunizations at district and community sites in 2024 and completed more than 9,000 home visits by public-health nurses and community-health workers.

Dr. Dan O'Donnell, chief of Indianapolis Emergency Medical Services, said the service has handled 16,899 incidents year to date, a 13% increase. He told trustees the agency has launched a formal mental-health co-response with Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department designed to coordinate response plans on-scene. O'Donnell said Indianapolis EMS will switch to ANSI-compliant high-visibility yellow uniforms for provider safety and is building a special-events team of part-time paramedics and EMTs to cover large events without straining 911 operations. He also said the agency is in discussions to deploy a nurse-navigation line (Crosswalk Health) to divert lower-acuity calls to non-transport care options.

Julie White, vice president of long-term care, reported January occupancy at 77% with an average daily census of 6,018 residents, up from 75% in January 2024. She said approved 2025 capital facility projects total $19 million with scopes and bids underway and that Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) guidance revisions affecting nursing-home admissions, restraints, psychotropic medications, staffing reporting and quality improvement were delayed from February to March.

Dr. Harris (Eskenazi Health) summarized system priorities around primary care, mental health integration and trust-building with historically underserved populations, and the Eskenazi Health Foundation reported several incoming and outgoing board members and officers as the foundation completes board turnover.

Why it matters: The operational updates outline service demand pressures — especially respiratory viruses and TB screening/treatment needs — and infrastructure investments intended to support long-term service delivery and emergency preparedness across the HHC system.

Trustees were not asked to take further formal action on these reports at the meeting; several asked follow-up questions and staff said they would provide additional details through committee briefings and future board materials.