A planned free-standing emergency department in Chesterton is part of a growing trend across the nation.

"They're tending to emerge for a couple of reasons," said Douglas Leonard, president of the Indiana Hospital Association.

"Many emergency rooms are really suffering from being overcrowded," Leonard said, making wait times longer and, in some cases, forcing diversion to other nearby emergency rooms.

"Hospitals are questioning, do we have ability to add capacity, or should we expand someplace else?" Leonard said.

Michigan City-based St. Anthony Memorial hospital announced plans this week to expand its services by building a $20 million, 24-hour emergency room center in a vacant former grocery store on Indian Boundary Road in Chesterton.

The deal to acquire the building is pending final approvals.

Nationwide, 179 free-standing emergency rooms opened in 2006, the most recent year for which information was available, compared to 146 in 2005, according to the American Hospital Association.

"It's definitely a growing trend," said Caroline Steinberg, American Hospital Association trends analyst.

Driving the growth is declining demand for inpatient care, even as demand grows for outpatient care, Steinberg said.

"It's a strategy hospitals are using to meet the need for a particular capacity," especially in growing suburban areas, Steinberg said

The trend is expected to continue.

"It seems to be an effective way to meet community needs. It's more cost effective than to build an entire new hospital," Steinberg said.

St. Anthony Memorial looked at the needs of the Chesterton area in deciding to build the facility, hospital President James Callaghan said.

"Some communities are not served with an immediate-care situation, and Chesterton is one of them," Callaghan said.

Hospital officials decided on the free-standing emergency room venue rather than a full-scale hospital, Callaghan said.

With two new hospitals already under consideration in Porter County, "possibly what's not needed is another hospital," but rather "improved access," Callaghan said.

The Porter hospital system plans a $120 million new hospital at a site just north of Valparaiso to open by 2011, replacing the aging Porter hospital near downtown.

Plans for the facility are on target at U.S. 6 and Ind. 49, Porter officials said this week.

Meanwhile, South Bend-based Memorial Hospital and Health System said late last month it will revise its financial plan for building a proposed new hospital on land it owns at Burlington Beach Road and Ind. 49 in Valparaiso.

Plans are for the free-standing emergency room in Chesterton to open in early 2010, Callaghan said.