13 WTHR - Indianapolis News |Wishard referendum on Tuesday's special election ballot

Wishard referendum on Tuesday's special election ballot

Indianapolis - A well-organized campaign for a new Wishard Hospital building comes to an end Tuesday when the polls open for a special election. Voters will decide whether to approve a new $754 million hospital.

Susan Decker with Citizens for Wishard, a political action committee working on behalf of the referendum said, "We're feeling excited. Turnout's been great."

Monday, Decker helped gather signs to deliver to polling places. She said supporters have "been out and about and about doing street to street door to door activities handing out information, encouraging people to vote."

The plans to build a new hospital, which have enjoyed broad support among city and business leaders, received another boost Monday. The Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation announced a $6 million gift toward construction of a new hospital.

"That is tremendous news. That is the single largest gift any entity has ever given to Wishard," said Matt Gutwein, President and CEO of the Marion County Health and Hospital Corporation.

In the meantime, opponents of the new hospital have spoken out, mostly as individuals. Explaining the lack of an organized effort, former State Representative Jon Elrod said, "I think there's just a big difference between an organized group. They want this new hospital."

Elrod is among those who've questioned how the new hospital can be built without raising taxes.

"They want permission to raise taxes, but then they tell us will not use them and I think that's unlikely," he said.

A handful of election workers spent Monday processing hundreds of absentee ballots, not just for Wishard, but school referendums in Beech Grove and Perry and Franklin Townships.

"We are seeing a lot of early voting," said Marion County Clerk Beth White.

As of Sunday night, 5,165 ballots had been cast, a little more than three times the number that were cast in the 2008 special election to fill Julia Carson's congressional seat. White said turnout for that election was 18 percent.

She believes Tuesday will be a little busier.

"I think I'll go out on a limb and say we'll do better than that. There's no way to tell, althought it's my experience is that early voting signals pretty heavy voting on election day."

But still, a far smaller turnout than a general election. White said to expect results as early as 8 p.m. Tuesday.