Goshen Health has merged with Parkview Health of Fort Wayne as of Oct. 1 as the federal government continues to crack down on who is eligible to receive Medicaid and Medicare. The crackdown has forced Goshen residents to pay out-of-pocket for health expenses, which complicates Goshen Health’s financial situation.

According to Jewel Yoder, department chair of nursing and public health at Goshen College, there will likely not be a major or noticeable impact over the next year at the college.

However, Yoder hopes that the Parkview merge will allow for bigger and better opportunities for the nursing program in the future. She explains that, as the hospital expands, so will the number of patients, meaning  that students would have the opportunity to be educated on certain conditions that they otherwise may not have encountered.

Similarly, Yoder hopes the hospital will grow enough that they may be able to open a pediatric wing. She explains, “Right now, nursing students travel all the way to South Bend to do their pediatric clinicals, so from a barrier standpoint, it would be really nice if they could just go across the street.”

There was some fear that the acquisition would affect the college’s programming with Goshen Health, but Yoder said, “I think for the remainder of this year, nothing is going to change in how we operate. As we get into the following year, there may be greater competition to get clinical spots.” Yoder says that the process of getting clinical spots is going to be “a little bit more bureaucratic than we’re used to.”

Goshen Health’s collaborative history with GC goes back as far as 2007, when they jointly bought a simulation manikin for training nurses.

However, according to Yoder, the partnership didn’t really blossom until around 2020, when simulation technology was reconsidered as a way to educate and train nurses during the pandemic.

Yoder said, “Goshen College closing and other places closing is really what led us into realizing that we needed to get more involved in this new way of educating nursing students using simulation.”

During the pandemic, the college had its first encounters with Parkview Health. Parkview had emerged as a local leader in simulation at the time, and the college partnered with them at the beginning of the pandemic.

Yoder said that Goshen Health opened clinics shortly thereafter on Professional Drive, a short distance away from the college, which included simulation rooms. Then, in 2025, the new nursing wing at Westlawn was installed and, as Yoder puts it, “We have joined together to have what we call a simulation consortium.”

This means that Goshen Health and Goshen College have agreed to buy the same equipment to train both registered nurses and nursing students in order to share knowledge and skills. Furthermore, according to Randi Warren, the nursing simulation coordinator at Goshen College, there is a growing market for simulation technology in nursing, meaning that the acquisition of Goshen Health by Parkview Health will be favorable for the college.

Warren states, “This [simulation technology] is only going to become a staple in nursing education.” She goes on, “Being a nurse with over 30 years of experience, I’m like, if that was available to me, I think I would have felt more comfortable going into the clinical setting.”

Warren  also echoes Yoder’s hopes for better opportunities for not only students of Goshen College but also colleagues at Goshen Health and the Goshen community as whole.

Warren notes the benefit to the community, particularly in the vein of maternal health. In an area where there aren’t abundant options for obstetric care, the merger with Parkview health will help to fill the gap. Warren views this expansion as a chance “to support these areas where there are gaps and then, in turn,ultimately improving the overall health of our community.”

In an increasingly tense political climate where class divide is a considerable issue, it is easy to wonder how a large corporation taking over would be beneficial for the intimate nature of the Goshen community. Yoder assures, however, that “the paperwork will change, but the people won’t.”

She also explained that there was a serious vetting process done to ensure Parkview Health’s values aligned with those of Goshen Health, ensuring that Goshen residents will receive the care and treatment they deserve.