MILWAUKEE — Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin announced plans to build a new, small-scale community hospital near its Drexel Town Square Health Center in Oak Creek as the health network seeks to alleviate capacity limitations at its leading Wauwatosa hospital and expand its presence south of Milwaukee.

According to the hospital’s website, Froedtert Hospital’s occupancy is one of the highest in the state, often exceeding 85 percent with its emergency department being among the region’s busiest.

As a response from the health network – the new hospital, known as the “neighborhood hospital,” will offer eased access and efficiency to its emergency and inpatient care while being in close proximity to where people both work and live.

The new 18,000-square-foot hospital will include a 24/7 seven-bed emergency department and eight inpatient beds for patients requiring additional care, observation and tests.

The facility will also feature laboratory, pharmacy and imaging services, designed to treat medical emergencies that require attention beyond an urgent care clinic’s capability.

The neighborhood hospital will also employ Medical College of Wisconsin emergency physicians as well as experienced registered nurses which is projected to see about 15 to 25 patients per day and will employ about 40 full-and part-time staff.

“We see the neighborhood hospital as a way to keep high-quality care close to home in a convenient setting that is easy to navigate,” said Cathy Jacobson, president and chief executive officer of Froedtert Health in a press release. “It also will fill a need for this level of care in Oak Creek, which currently does not have a hospital.”

Jacobson continued, explaining that Froedtert hospital treats numerous patients from the Oak Creek area, which currently does not have a hospital, serving approximately 80 people per day who have traveled from Oak Creek over the last five years.

“It makes sense to provide emergency and inpatient services in their community,” said Jacobson.

The hospital is projected to cost about $10 million and although it will not be able to provide surgical services, it will be an option for some patients who require an overnight stay, such as those who are dehydrated or who have pneumonia, according to the Journal Sentinel.

Froedtert has joined Tandem Hospital Partners to create this micro hospital, a Houston, Texas-based firm that runs several other neighborhood hospitals across the country.

The health network presented the concept in May when plans were announced for a similar project in Mequon. The Mequon neighborhood hospital is also scheduled to open in early 2020.

The Froedtert & MCW health network includes five hospitals with more than 1,600 physicians and nearly 40 health centers and clinics, drawing patients from throughout the Midwest and the nation. In their most recent fiscal year, outpatient visits exceeded 1.1 million, inpatient admissions to their hospitals were 49,250 and visits to our network physicians totaled 932,000.

Froedtert Hospital hosts 585-beds and is nationally recognized for their physicians and nurses, research leadership, and state-of-the-art treatments and technology. It serves as an eastern Wisconsin referral center for advanced medical care in 37 specialties and is a major training facility with more than 1,000 medical, nursing and health technical students in training.

Reports from the Journal Sentinel and Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin contributed to this story.

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TOMAH, Wis. — Tomah Memorial Hospital in Tomah has plans to begin construction of a new $66 million hospital this fall. Tomah Memorial first announced the project last spring, and plans are currently underway an estimated 140,000-square-foot, three-story hospital and proposed medical office building that would be attached to the hospital.

The project is currently slated for completion by 2019, according to Tim Sessions, AIA, principal at St. Paul, Minn.-based BWBR and architect working on the Tomah Memorial project. Tomah Memorial Hospital staff and administrators have been meeting with architects and designers from BWBR and Market & Johnson of Eau Claire on specific designs for the building since early 2016.

The motivation for building a new hospital stems from the growing needs of the public, according to a hospital statement. Between the emergency room and urgent care, the hospital will likely see 16,000 people this year, with other services having tripled over the last five years, according to Tomah Memorial Hospital CEO Phil Stuart, in a statement. Since opening in 1952, the current hospital has undergone expansions in 1964, 1994 and 2004, but the location no longer allows for future growth.

“The design team’s central goal is to establish a facility for Tomah to be able to deliver healthcare for the next half century with a flexible and adaptable platform that they can work with as health care changes over time,” said Sessions.

Some of these plans include patient-centered efficiencies such as plans to double the capacity of operating rooms, expansion of emergency and urgent care areas, increasing obstetric services with additional delivery suites, the expansion of outpatient infusion services, enlarging rehabilitation areas and patient rooms, and improving efficiencies in daily workflow.

Sessions talked about Tomah being an independent hospital and how as a result they have a real focus on the wellbeing of their patients and the in-patient experience. “Nowadays, systemized hospitals have a greater focus on outpatient services, but Tomah wants to really focus on care and prevention of the hospital’s patients, in addition to becoming a known center for health and wellbeing for the greater Tomah surrounding community,” said Sessions.

There has been extensive discussion about the creation of a wellness facility that would include an indoor saltwater swimming pool available to the community (not just for patients) but is not currently part of the plans as “the economics are not there right now,” explained Sessions. While their vision for the wellness center will not yet come to fruition, progress is still being made with a saltwater pool being included in the plans for the physical therapy/rehab center. The design for the hospital also includes a walking trail around the hospital campus that may connect to Tomah’s existing recreational trail system.

Additionally, Sessions talked about the design trying to create a stress-reducing and calming environment for the patients with a simple and easy to navigate layout, complete with major landmarks to make for easy wayfinding.

“It’s hard enough just having to be at the hospital without having to worry about knowing where you are going,” Sessions said.

The design team also plans to have the patient rooms be more “backstage” so they are not on display as an effort towards more privacy and sense of calmness.

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The hospital will include a level III neonatal intensive care unit (NICU); advanced medical and radiation oncology and open-heart surgery departments. Other services will include OB/GYN, cardiovascular, bariatrics, orthopedics, a cancer center, women’s health, outpatient services, and minimally invasive robotic procedures. The construction costs came in at $150 million, while the project cost totaled $265 million.

The building is designed around a multi-story atrium that creates an entry to the hospital and orients views to the Norristown Farm Park across the road. Views of the park helped set the tone in terms of interior design for the hospital and brought inspiration from nature and sunlight, according to the New York City office of Perkins+Will, architects for the project.

“Natural materials like wood and stone in neutral colors were used to allow the focal point to be the changing scene outside the building,” said Laura Morris, senior interior designer at Perkins+Will.

“Every effort was made throughout the planning of the building to provide access to daylight for staff and visitors. Patient rooms feature expansive windows that take advantage of the views, and are designed to promote patient comfort,” said Carolyn BaRoss, design principal at Perkins+Will.

The 363,000-square-foot medical center will have an attached medical office building that will take up to 75,000 square feet. The office building, known as the Medical Arts Building, will have a freestanding ambulatory surgical center with four operating rooms, radiation and medical oncology programs, the antenatal testing unit, and space for private physicians.

In addition, some services will go into one of three off-campus sites. The Women’s Diagnostic Unit will be housed right across the street from the hospital, and the Sleep Center and Wound Care Center will be located about five miles down the road. A professional office space located on the EMCM campus will host hospital-based services to continue to service the community that remains around the old campus.

Design began in 2007, but construction for the hospital didn’t begin until July 2010 due to the dip in the economy in 2008, which made financing more complicated. Construction of the office building followed a year later, with a start date of July 2011.

“The projects were deliberately timed to end at the same time,” said Rick Montalbano, vice president and project executive for Einstein Healthcare Network. “If the projects had started at the same time, the Medical Arts Building would have sat empty for a year while construction continued on the hospital.”

The Medical Arts Building is 100 percent occupied, with 11 tenants in the two-story building.

Funding for the project came from equity, with bonds from FHA Mortgage Insurance rounding out the balance.

Currently the hospital has enough points to achieve LEED Silver certification, something that the Einstein Healthcare Network had aimed to achieve.

“I think there is a tremendous amount of excitement regarding the new facility. There is going to be a state-of-the-art medical center in the community that didn’t exist before,” said Beth Duffy, chief operating officer for Einstein Medical Center Montgomery.

A community day is being planned for September 22, a week before the official opening. Tours through the new facility will occur, with educational forums and children activities happening, and a concert and fireworks display rounding out the evening.

“We are very excited about the hospital opening in the fall,” said Robert Goodwin, design principal at Perkins + Will. “It will send a strong statement about advanced health care in a highly-efficient, comfortable and sustainable new facility that will be a welcomed new resource for the community.”

To make the transition easier for the patients and staff of the new facility, electronic medical records will be implemented using records from EMCM going back a year.

Einstein Healthcare Network found the need for the new facility when they realized residents of Central Montgomery County were going outside of the county for their health care needs, according to Duffy.

“Our data showed about 60 percent of residents leave Montgomery County, primarily going into the city, and so we believed we had an opportunity,” said Duffy.

Montgomery Hospital Medical Center (MHMC), a single-based entity, partnered with Einstein Medical Center Montgomery in order to build a new medical center, go into the market with an existing patient base and medical staff, and open a new hospital to serve the needs of the county.

The patients currently at MHMC will move to EMCM in late September, at which time MHMC will close. Currently, EMCM is only using one-third of its 87 acres of space, allowing for ample growth in the future.

“When we acquired the site, we knew that the site was much larger than what we needed for today’s project; so the site has been master-planned with its roadway systems and utilities to grow,” said Montalbano.

“It [EMCM] was really built from the patient and family perspective,” added Montalbano. “While there is much here that talks about the efficiency of how hospitals work, there is also much here that says that we understand the role of the patient and the family and the healing process.”

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The acquisition will expand TRHMC’s clinical capacity in important surgical specialties, including orthopedics, spine surgery, and gynecology. It also assures that SIR remains focused on the needs of this community through local oversight of its strategic and daily operations.

Under terms of the agreement, the Surgical Institute of Reading will continue to function as a Joint Commission-accredited acute care hospital and surgical center with 15 licensed beds for overnight patient stays. Its nursing and support staff, numbering 125, will become employees of The Reading Hospital and Medical Center.

Its medical staff of 27 physicians will remain independent practitioners on TRHMC’s medical staff.

The Surgical Institute of Reading opened at its current Spring Township site in 2007, and was designed to provide high quality, individualized care to surgical patients. In 2011, volume exceeded 5,000 open, endoscopic, and other minimally invasive procedures performed by otolaryngologists, general surgeons, neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons, plastic and reconstructive surgeons, and pain management specialists.

The Reading Hospital and Medical Center is a subsidiary of The Reading Hospital system. The system also includes a medical group, rehabilitation hospital, continuing care retirement community, and preferred provider organization, and has interests in home care, infusion, physical therapy, employee assistance, and reference laboratory entities.
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The new tower will include 174,000 square feet of new construction and 4,100 square feet of renovated space.

The addition will house 171 all-private patient rooms, a new cardiology and catheterization area, a new dialysis unit and a central utility plant.

The new private rooms will provide patients with a “quieter, more restful atmosphere” to help patients heal, said Norm Epstein, president and CEO of Chambersburg Hospital.

Architecture, engineering, construction services and site work will be provided by St. Louis, Mo.-based design and build firm HBE Corp.

“HBE enabled Chambersburg Hospital to achieve a superior design with larger private rooms and improved operational efficiencies while maintaining the quality specifications we require,” Epstein said. “HBE’s superior design and guaranteed lump sum price will help facilitate the execution of our 10-year facility plan via tremendous cost savings on our largest and most strategic project.”

The firm began construction on the addition in 2012, and expects it to complete in September 2012.

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Construction will begin next year to the tune of $57 million.  Last summer the medical center added 68 single patient rooms to its East wing. Expansion to the Emergency Department will increase its space to 40,000 square foot, three times its current size. The expansion is expected to cost $33 million.

The Emergency Department will feature 40 single-patient rooms with private bathrooms — which will be able to expand to accommodate up to 60 people — a private bereavement area and a behavioral health area. It will also be designed in four “pods” that can be opened or closed depending on the number of patients it is handling. The department’s top walls made of glass so the staff can see what is happening in each pod. The walls will also be soundproofed to keep the department quiet. Other features, such as radiology, may also be added to increase patient comfort and convenience.

The helicopter pad will be moved to the department’s roof, and a 12,000-square-foot building for the paramedic garage and office space will be added. It is estimated that this phase of the expansion will cost $24 million and will be completed in 2013. Mount Nittany plans to issue bonds to pay for it.

The new cancer center will pull together in to one site the services Mount Nittany currently offers in different areas of the hospital and add services such as physical and speech therapy. Radiation oncology will be expanded and an infusion site, pharmacy and a clinic area will also be added. The center will support research and clinical trials being done by the Penn State Cancer Institute.

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The ground breaking comes 18 months after Wilkes-Barres General Hospital was sold to Community Health Systems Inc., which promised to invest $135 million in capital improvements over its first decade of ownership. The expansion project is scheduled to be completed by 2012 and will include further development of the hospital, with a cancer center, new parking garage and additional physician recruitment.

To accommodate construction, the existing Medical Arts Building and the Mendelssohn Building were razed in May and a handful of houses the hospital purchased will be torn down to make way for a parking area. 

The new ER will be 30,000 square feet, more than double the size of the current one. The project is slated to be completed in August 2012 and is being handled by Layton Construction of Sandy, Utah.

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The 150-year-old facility, which is owned by Mainline Health System, provides such services as minimally invasive robotic heart surgery and advanced treatment options for cancer, while leading or participating in extensive worldwide research trials for cancer and cardiac care, according to reports.

Earlier this year, Lankenau unveiled a new cutting-edge cardiothoracic intensive care unit and introduced a greatly anticipated breast care center. Hospital officials say the expansion will position Lankenau to meet the demands of healthcare reform and will feature such innovations as a computer at every bedside that will enable the efficient and accurate management of electronic medical records, while a variety of full-integrated and assessable IT solutions will create a safe and efficient “new care” environment.

“The new pavilion will enable our medical team to provide seamless, coordinated medical care in a technologically advanced, comfortable environment,” says Jack Lynch, CEO of Mainline Health.
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MHP president and CEO Kevin Cook says in reports that it is a challenging time for Mercy, its staff and community, and that the put the property up for sale is the result of a combination of factors. Cook pointed to the past two decades that area hospitals have endured lower than average reimbursements for care, and a static population base, but that he remained encouraged by the potential of health care reform to improve coverage and access to care in the country.

One of the factors in the decision to sell is the trend of hospitals moving toward outpatient care, says Jerry Askew, vice president of external affairs at Mercy. Askew added that the passage of the healthcare reform bill has made it clear that reimbursements for inpatient services is going down and reimbursements for outpatient services is going up and that long hospital stays are becoming a thing of the past.

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