Client News
BEDFORD (Indiana) – Celebrating critical healthcare access and continuity of care in the Bedford region, executives and community officials from Southern Indiana Community Health Care (SICHC), IU Health Bedford Hospital, Indiana Health Centers (IHC), the city of Bedford, and others gathered at the new SICHC facility here March 12. “With our expansion to larger facilities from our first Bedford clinic, we are grateful to be joined by our friends and fellow collaborators to celebrate our mutual efforts to preserve continuity of care in Bedford,” said Nancy Radcliff, SICHC CEO.
Beginning in 2022, SICHC, IU Health Bedford Hospital, and IHC all tirelessly worked together to help fill the healthcare accessibility gap left by the closure of the Ascension St. Vincent Dunn Hospital. The former Ascension Bedford hospital closed all practices, including obstetrics, potentially leaving Lawrence County residents without some key healthcare services. In addition to quality of life issues, the hospital closure threatened to impact both economic and workforce development in the region with the potential loss of OB and accessible primary care services. That scenario was averted, according to Radcliff.
SICHC first expanded its obstetrics and family care services into Lawrence County clinics in Bedford and Mitchell in late 2022. Moving from its former Bedford Ascension facility, SICHC moved into its new 7,820 sq. ft. Bedford facility at Lincoln Plaza earlier this year, adding 45% more space and capacity.
SICHC is helping to sustain the availability of obstetrics, prenatal and well mother healthcare services following the Dunn closure. In addition to offering a broad spectrum of OB and pregnancy services, SICHC physicians provide delivery services at the IU Health facilities in nearby Paoli, and also partner with deliveries at the IU Health Bloomington hospital and Schneck Medical Center in Seymour.
ELLETTSVILLE, Indiana – Want to improve online writing, research, and safety? To help communities and people more effectively and safely use online office productivity tools, social media, streaming services, and more, Smithville created and is offering a 10-part free “How-to Guide for Enhancing Digital Fluency.”
The Smithville Smart series supports members of the community who are looking to improve their digital fluency and use internet-based services to enhance their quality of life. The popular series offers both text and video, which can be accessed 24/7 when convenient.
The educational series is offered free to the public. Visitors do not have to be Smithville internet customers to view and use the series. For people in southern Indiana who do not have internet service, Smithville lists the eight public Wi-Fi access points in Bloomington, Ellettsville, French Lick, Gosport, Hymera, Jasper, and Solsberry that the company maintains for complimentary internet access.
“Incredibly unique” transformational packaging, containers and more are on deck and attracting national attention as the Knox County-based AgroRenew startup company firms up plans for a $83 million processing facility. Joining national media such as Plastics News, Inside Indiana Business reported that “The facility, which will ultimately span nearly 200,000-square-feet, will be used to repurpose food waste from the county’s watermelon, cantaloupe and pumpkin farms into biodegradable and sustainable plastics.”
Given its innovative, industry-changing potential, the announcement of AgroRenew’s environmentally friendly bioplastic products attracted widespread media attention at regional and national levels. Co-founder Brian Southern told the popular Hoosier Ag Today radio program that the new company is taking “watermelon waste and reducing it down into a micron dust and blending it with some other bio sources to form a resin polymer that can then be used to make various types of plastics.”
Earlier this fall Knox County officials and I joined Gov. Eric Holcomb and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) for a week-long trade mission in Japan. Some may ask, why are focused visits like these vital to Indiana – and particularly southern Indiana?
CEO
Knox County Indiana Economic Development
Here’s a key fact: Indiana has the highest concentration of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the United States from Japanese companies. What does that mean? We took part in this mission to sustain sound and positive relationships with Japanese companies and executives who regard Indiana investments as important, even vital.
(By Chris Pfaff, CEO, Knox County Indiana Economic Development – Pfaff also discussed the direct impact of this Japan visit on Knox County and other regions in the Vincennes Sun-Commercial and other media).
Knox County, of course, directly benefits from that investment with Futaba Indiana of America Corporation, a Japanese entity that operates a major manufacturing center in Vincennes. Futaba directly supports manufacturing operations of Toyota in Princeton, Indiana, which gives you an idea of the critical connectivity inherent in FDI.
BEDFORD, Indiana – Building on its existing commercial presence, Smithville launched a new residential multi-gigabit-capable fiber project in the city of Bedford, Nov. 1, according to Darby A. McCarty, Smithville Chairman and CEO. The new project will feature Smithville’s new multi-gigabit capacity for homes.
(Content from this media brief appeared on Southern Indiana Business Report, Inside Indiana Business, and the Times-Mail).
“We’ve been pleased to support area businesses and healthcare – including the IU Health Bedford hospital with our high-speed fiber service for several years,” said Ms. McCarty. “Now we’re pleased to launch both our nationally recognized fiber broadband service for homes, together with our new multi-gigabit capacity.”
Smithville high-speed fiber services features symmetrical gigabit (1,000 Mbps) for both download and upload speeds. The new network being built will offer options for higher speeds.
“Smithville has been a strong supporter of Bedford and the region for many years with commercial fiber service for our manufacturing, healthcare, and other businesses in the region,” said Bedford Mayor Sam Craig. “It’s a good day when a top 100 broadband company initiates high-speed connectivity for Bedford residents.”
“Smithville has been a strong partner and provider of services to the East Gate Business and Technology Center and several other firms in the Bedford region,” said Shance Sizemore, CEO of the Lawrence County Economic Growth Council. “Smithville’s new symmetrical gigabit service for Bedford homes will help elevate the quality of life for Bedford residents.”
ELLETTSVILLE, Indiana – Over the past 10 months, Smithville leveraged upwards of $10 million in private investments to design and build new high-speed symmetrical gigabit-capable fiber networks in several rural areas of southern Indiana, according to Darby A. McCarty, Smithville Chairman and CEO.
The latest project features a 382-home expansion in the Stinesville area, where physical network design has been completed and fiber construction is getting underway. The town’s region will be built through private investments by Smithville in three phases, with the second and third phases – including the town of Stinesville – beginning in 2024.
“Over the past year we focused on upgrading legacy copper service to high-speed fiber in a number of our long-time rural service areas, which has been a continuing goal of Smithville,” Ms. McCarty explained. “By leveraging private investments, we can move faster and more efficiently to bring much-needed fiber capacity to these remote areas.”
The two words “breast cancer” can unfortunately strike fear into the hearts of some women. It is true that breast cancer is the most common cancer found in women, but it’s also true that you can do many things to lower breast cancer risks. The more you know, the better you can work to lower risks and have peace of mind (you may find the online tool at this link to be useful to help assess personal risk elements).
Here are some common myths we sometimes hear in our southern Indiana practice:
Myth No. 1 – Detecting a lump in your breast means you probably have cancer.
This is not true. While self-examination and checking your breasts for unusual lumps or changes (including sensitive or painful areas) is a good first line of defense, you should know that only a small number of lumps actually turn out to be cancerous. If you feel an unusual lump, it’s time to bring that to your medical provider’s attention. A lump or swelling can arise for different reasons and are often benign (non-cancerous). A medical examination and possible tests will provide good answers.
ELLETTSVILLE, Indiana – Recognized as “Indiana’s most prominent independent telecommunications firm,” Smithville received national attention in August as a leading broadband enterprise, being named a leader in “building a fiber-connected world”. The 101-year-old privately held company was named as one of America’s top 100 national broadband companies, according to Sean Buckley, editor-in-chief of Broadband Communities magazine.
“Smithville consistently has found and deployed creative and innovative solutions to expand broadband service, especially in underserved rural areas of Indiana,” said Buckley. “With an established reputation as an early fiber adopter and builder, Smithville continues to demonstrate quality leadership in bringing transformational fiber connectivity to residents, businesses and organizations in Indiana.”
Buckley noted that standards are high for selection in the top 100. Requirements to be selected in the intense annual competition include deploying networks, services and products intended to transform local economies or improve communities’ quality of life and introducing advanced technologies with “game-changing potential.”