Muncie, Indiana—In August, Indiana became the first state to sign an anti-abortion law, and hospitals across the state are preparing for the implications. The team at Indiana’s largest healthcare provider, IU Health, has been working for weeks to change procedures, educational programs, and resources to help healthcare providers comply with Senate Bill 1.

“We had 10 teams. They included legal considerations, ethical considerations, human resources, clinical and patient safety,” said IU Health executive vice president and chief medical officer. Dr. David Ingram says:

One of the provider’s first tasks was a numbers game. Because the new law requires abortions to be performed in hospitals or clinics attached to hospitals, IU Health will not be able to determine where abortions are commonly performed in the state and after the law takes effect. We investigated what the volume of abortions would be.

“Ideas are those [abortions] If they are deemed legal, will we have the capacity to respond to them,” Ingram said.

IU Health also expects an increase in the number of pregnancies statewide, so work is being done to increase hospital capacity, especially in the neonatal intensive care unit.

“Right now, we’re running about 90-95% capacity on these units, so we need to think about this deeply,” Ingram said.

Senate Bill 1 prohibits abortion except in cases of rape, incest, fetal defects, or to protect the health and safety of the mother. IU Health has created a 24/7 rapid response team for healthcare providers to contact if they have any clinical, legal, or ethical concerns.

“This is new territory for many providers, and we know there is growing anxiety about whether they are making the right decisions,” Ingram said.

“Our primary concern as healthcare providers is caring for our patients,” said Dr. Caroline Rouse, medical director of maternity services at IU Health.

Ball Memorial Hospital is the only hospital in Muncie that will continue to provide legal abortion services.

“We know abortion is safe, evidence-based, and will continue to provide that care within the limits of the new law.

Besides clinical changes, another major complication is IU Health’s OBGYN residency program. Because IU Health is the only medical school in the state, we have decided to rely on out-of-state training for some procedures.

“This program should provide access to all reproductive services,” Ingram said.

Ingram said the bill could keep students out of educational programs, and a survey conducted at IU Health found many medical school residents were considering hiring out of state in light of the change. This indicates that

“We’ve been thinking about what it means to be a doctor here. We have a perfectly formulated plan not only to retain employees, but to continue recruiting,” Ingram said. .

With all these changes in place, Ingram and Rouse said the most important aspect was the patient.

“We are ready and our number one priority is to serve our patients to maintain the patient-physician relationship within the newly enacted legislation,” Ingram said.

For comments, please contact Madeline Kerr at makerr@bsu.edu.