Hospital Week: Healing Doesn’t Stop at Our Doors

Written by Dr. Michele Saysana, President, IU Health Metro Region

National Hospital Week (May 10–16) is a time to celebrate our hospitals and the people behind the care. Join me in recognizing the work advancing affordable, accessible and community‑driven care across Indiana.

Each May, National Hospital Week gives us an opportunity to recognize what our communities experience every day: hospitals aren’t just places we visit when something goes wrong. They are anchors for our communities, engines for our economy, and trusted partners in building healthier lives. Hospital Week is a time to recognize the people who make care possible and the ways hospitals stay deeply connected to the communities they serve.

This week is also an important moment to reflect on what it takes to sustain high-quality care for the long term. Indiana faces real challenges around health care affordability, workforce shortages and access to care, but IU Health is leading in aligning prices to national averages, building the healthcare workforce of tomorrow and removing barriers to care.

Making care more affordable so it remains accessible

Access starts with affordability. That’s why IU Health has made making healthcare more affordable for Hoosiers a central focus. So far, IU Health has delivered $1.4 billion in savings in commercial prices for employers and patients, driven, in part, by intentional reductions in commonly used services.

Despite rising labor, drug and supply costs, IU Health lowered prices across key areas. Radiology prices are down an average of 26%, laboratory prices by 62% and outpatient pharmacy prices by 33%. A recent study commissioned by the state showed IU Health’s commercial prices are now below the national average, reinforcing our commitment to making healthcare more affordable for Hoosiers.

Building the health care workforce of tomorrow

Hospital Week is about people, which makes it the right time to talk about the workforce behind our health system. As Indiana faces a shortage in physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals, our educational programs from high school to residency are more important than ever. In 2024, IU Health invested $85 million to train the next generation of healthcare professionals in Indiana, as reported in our annual Community Benefit report.

This commitment is reflected in partnerships IU Health has established to give high school students hands-on experience in real healthcare settings. In Indianapolis, the IU Health fellowship program at Crispus Attucks High School introduces and prepares students for careers in the healthcare industry. IU Health West in Avon partners with the Area 31 Career Center’s health sciences program, which serves high school juniors and seniors from 11 school districts across Indianapolis, to offer comprehensive career training. At IU Health North in Carmel, the hospital partners with Carmel High School to provide students the opportunity to work on select inpatient units as certified nursing assistants.

Caring for communities inside and outside hospital walls

Hospitals will always be essential, especially for emergency and complex care, but improving health across Indiana requires more than excellent care inside our facilities.

Through our community benefit work and Community Impact Investment Fund, IU Health partners with local organizations addressing critical needs such as housing security, infant mortality, mental health, food access and neighborhood revitalization. Across Marion, Hendricks, Hamilton and Boone counties, IU Health has invested more than $25.6 million in local partnerships, including Cradle Indy, RecycleForce, Early Learning Indiana, Volunteers of America, Indy Public Safety Foundation and others. These investments strengthen the conditions that shape health long before a patient enters a hospital, helping communities thrive and ensuring better health outcomes for current and future generations.

A simple message this Hospital Week: Thank you, and let’s keep going.

To the more than 20,000 IU Health team members serving patients across the Indy Metro area: thank you for the expertise, compassion and resilience you bring to your work. To our community partners: thank you for walking alongside us and helping extend care beyond our walls. And to our elected leaders and civic partners: thank you for engaging in the work of building a healthier state.

Hospital Week is a celebration, yes, but it’s also a reminder that the future of healthcare depends on people and on the decisions we make today to support them. If we stay focused on affordability, workforce and community health, Indiana can lead the way. And that is something worth celebrating.