The board of trustees for the Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County unanimously approved a $2.7 billion budget for next year.
The proposed spending plan for 2026 now moves to the City-County Council for final approval.
The vote comes on the heels of state budget cuts that have the agency looking at millions in losses.
“It has been a really intensive process throughout all divisions to tighten up what we’re allowed to spend,” Paul Babcock, Health and Hospital’s CEO, said during the Aug. 26 meeting.
The municipal corporation operates the Marion County Public Health Department, Eskenazi Health, Indianapolis Emergency Medical Services and dozens of nursing homes across the state. This year, it is facing about a $125 million loss.
A big chunk of that comes from state funding.
For more than a decade, Indiana lawmakers allocated about $38 million every year to help Eskenazi Health cover the cost of providing care to low-income and uninsured patients. That support ended under Republican Gov. Mike Braun.
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To make up for some of the loss, HHC has proposed maximizing the county property tax dollars it can receive to pull an additional $25 million. Departments at Eskenazi Health have also been asked to cut their budgets by 3.5%, said Dr. Lisa Harris, the hospital system’s CEO.
The move would save about $35 million, she said.
“We are avoiding solutions that place a burden of financial improvement on our patients and team members,” Harris told the seven trustees, who are appointed by the mayor, City-County Council and county commissioners.
The specific cuts across departments haven’t been determined, a spokesperson for Eskenazi Health told Mirror Indy in an Aug. 26 email.
“No decision has been made yet on what budget cuts will be made,” Todd Harper wrote.
HHC’s budget will be introduced to the Indianapolis City-County Council at 7 p.m. Sept. 8 in the City-County building, 200. E. Washington St. HHC will also present its budget to the council’s Municipal Corporations Committee at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 17 in the City-County Building. There will be a chance for public comment at the meeting.
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Mirror Indy reporter Mary Claire Molloy covers health. Reach her at 317-721-7648 or email maryclaire.molloy@mirrorindy.org. Follow her on X @mcmolloy7.
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