INDIANAPOLIS -- An Indianapolis police officer shot in the line of duty last year voiced his support Monday for the hospital where his life was saved.

Officer Jason Fishburn and his father, Dennis Fishburn, are co-chairing Citizens For Wishard, a group in favor of a referendum to rebuild Wishard Memorial Hospital, 6News' Renee Jameson reported.

The Health and Hospital Corp. of Marion County, which operates the hospital along with the county health department, has proposed constructing a new $754 million hospital campus on a portion of land now owned by Indiana University on the IUPUI campus.

The current facility -- where some of the 17 buildings are up to 95 years old -- are out of date and deteriorating quickly, officials said.

"Wishard is dying. It's dying of old age," Dennis Fishburn said Monday.

Before the project can move forward, it will come before Marion County voters in a referendum on Nov. 3. Hospital officials have said that at least $612 million in low-interest public bonds will be used to fund the project, but no new property tax money.

The Fishburns said the project must be completed to ensure all residents have access to a Level I trauma center.

"This is a way for Jason and I to pay forward what has been given to us," Dennis Fishburn said.

Fishburn, who was shot in July of 2008, has since returned to light duty with the police department.

The City-County Council would also need to approve the hospital plans. If approved, the hospital's current campus would be given to the university in exchange for the new land.