For the past five years, La Porte Hospital and its sister sites, Porter Regional Hospital in Valparaiso and Starke Hospital in Knox, have collaborated to better stablish themselves as local healthcare leaders. Today they adopt a unified brand and the ability to market a new hospital system. Through years of collaboration, they decided that the opening of their new hospital in La Porte was the right time for the rebranding of the hospitals into a new healthcare system.
On Wednesday, September 30, La Porte Hospital unveiled its new name: Northwest Health - La Porte. Porter Regional and Starke Hospitals will also take on the new name Northwest Health to leave no question as to the hospital’s connection.
“This is the logical next step,” said CEO of Northwest Health La Porte Ashley Dickinson. “We’ve been working together as three hospitals for about five years. There has been a lot of confusion as to whether they’re together or not. This rebranding is about making sure everyone understands we’re a cohesive healthcare system.”
The new name not only projects unity, but also encapsulates their dedication to serving the greater Northwest Indiana region. With the new name being symbolic of connection, the leadership at the three hospitals decided to include staff in the naming process.
“We conducted a survey of our leaders, including the medical staffs and boards to get their input on the name,” Dickinson said. “We also had a board committee that made the final naming decision. We wanted a name that was representative of the care we provide across Northwest Indiana. We also designed the logo specifically to represent health and wellness but with a clean, contemporary look.
The new name will not only clarify the connection between the hospitals, but their strengthened alliance will also provide increased resources and new opportunities.
“We are working together to leverage our resources and reinforce our strengths,” Dickinson said. “Being part of a larger organization means we can use our size and shared resources to recruit more doctors, and make it even easier for people to access quality care.”
For Northwest Health - La Porte, the new name was not the only change. In 2018, they broke ground to lay the foundation for a new hospital two blocks from the old hospital. Once the new hospital is open to the public on October 24 this year, hospital and city leaders will begin discussion on repurposing the old hospital property.
“I believe the old building is the perfect gathering and community spot,” said La Porte Mayor Tom Dermody. “We’re going to have to work together with Northwest Health - La Porte to figure out how we bring that building down, who pays for it, and how to make it a gathering spot. Our goal is to get the truck traffic off of Lincolnway so that La Porte becomes more of a walkable community. What an opportunity to have a spot in the center of downtown to do that.”
While the old hospital will be torn down, the new hospital will incorporate materials from the previous building into the new building. The iconic stained glass window from the chapel of the original hospital has been proudly displayed next to the main staircase in the lobby of Northwest Health – La Porte. Memorial bricks from the Serentiy Garden at the old hospital have been relocated to a Serenity Garden at Northwest Health – La Porte.
The new and old elements of the Northwest Health – La Porte mean progress for La Porte, which excites Mayor Dermody for the future growth of the community. “We’re setting high standards for the City of La Porte, and La Porte Hospital, called Northwest Health - La Porte when it moves to the new facility, has been a great partner,” Dermody said. “We’re excited about this, and our residents deserve it. We have a new hospital and amazing services. To have a community grow, those communities need to have a quality healthcare provider. We now have that here under the new name, so this is a good thing for the City of La Porte.”
