INDIANAPOLIS, IN – A transformative donation from an Indianapolis family is fueling the vision behind a new hospital. Lucas Family Brain and Spine Hospital at Ascension St. Vincent will support neurological care for children and adults. Officials broke ground on the facility in 2022, and it’s set to open in the spring.
Katie and Morgan Lucas have spent nearly two decades supporting Ascension St. Vincent as board members, donors, volunteers and patients. Katie is the president of Lucas Oil while Morgan serves as CEO. Their two sons, Hunter and Austin, were born in an Ascension St. Vincent hospital. After being born, Hunter contracted RSV bronchitis, necessitating further treatment. “The care and compassion that he received as he was eight days old when we were admitted, we will never, ever forget that. We were deeply committed then,” Katie said. In 2023, the family was back when Hunter needed life-saving surgery at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital for a large cyst found on his brain. Morgan’s mother, Charlotte Lucas, suffered a traumatic brain injury last year. She was also treated at Ascension St. Vincent.
The family said they’re “indebted” by the quality care they’ve received over the years, inspiring them to support the new hospital. “We feel like this is just the smallest thing that we can do just to say thank you to this amazing hospital,” Katie said. “To be able to tell the story, I think, explains that this isn’t a position of vanity for us,” Morgan added. “This is something that really matters to us, and hopefully we can make an impact on this community.”
The 109,000-square-foot facility will feature 38 ICU rooms designed for advanced brain and spine patient care. The family’s donation will directly support technology, education, research and patient navigation. The facility is part of a $325 million expansion of the 86th Street campus, a project that also saw the opening of the new Women and Infants Hospital in November.
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