As baby boomers age, heart centers have become the trendiest newhealth care facility.
The Milwaukee area has already seen several heart centers springup in the last few years, and now Racine is getting in on the act.
Starting in January, Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare-All Saints willconvert the top five floors of its emergency room building into a$37 million cardiovascular institute.
The extra floors were installed when the six-story, 200,000-square-foot emergency room building was constructed five years agoby Kenosha-based Riley Construction, but budget constraints lefteverything above the first floor vacant. Now, All Saints isprepared to move forward with its original plan.
'The heart services will be centralized as opposed to spread outacross the medical campus,' said Ron Boecker, director offacilities and construction services for All Saints. 'There areefficiencies to be gained for the hospital, and it will make itvery easy for patients seeking treatment.'
The interior construction work is currently out for bid. Much ofthe construction will involve extending utilities from the firstfloor to the above levels.
'We are going to maintain a fully functional emergency departmentduring construction and will plan accordingly throughout theproject to keep a minimum of disruption,' said Jeff Holzhauer, leadarchitect from Plunkett Raysich Architects, Milwaukee.
Close to homeThe hospital is hoping Racine residents stay in townfor heart treatment rather than travel to St. Luke's Hospital inMilwaukee, the area leader in three top cardiac procedures with2,631.
'There is a definite need for the services the CI will provide tothe community and southeastern Wisconsin,' said Boecker.
Of the $37 million price tag, about $15 million will be used forequipment. In this sense, waiting a few years to build the heartcenter may have paid off.
'The building's cardiac portions will use new technology nowavailable that gives the department more options in areas such asprevention capabilities and adjustable recovery beds,' Holzhauersaid.
On the building's second floor, above the first-floor EmergencyDepartment, there will be 16 beds for cardiac patients who needintensive cardiac care followed by recovery care. There will alsobe three cardiac catheterization laboratories, equipped for work onnarrowed kidney and leg arteries, which can cause vascular disease.
'These rooms are set up so patients can spend the entire continuumof their treatment and care in one room,' said Boecker. 'We alsohave used evidence-based design, which studies have shown have apositive effect on patients.'
The third floor will contain an intensive care unit, and thefourth floor will house offices for cardiologists and nursepractitioners, as well as a new prevention program to screen peoplefor coronary artery disease.
The fifth floor will have beds for cardiac patients with symptomsof heart disease but who don't need concentrated care, while thesixth floor will be used for more doctor and administrativeoffices.
38 bedsAll in all, the building will have 38 patient beds. It willconsolidate but not alter the capacity of All Saints, which is thesecond-most profitable Wheaton Franciscan hospital behind ElmbrookMemorial in Brookfield, according to the Wisconsin HospitalAssociation.
Also included in the heart center will be two new operating roomsdedicated to chest and heart surgery and a high-speed CT scanneradvanced enough to show a beating heart.
Wheaton Franciscan is a Catholic, nonprofit organization with morethan 100 health and shelter organizations in Wisconsin, Iowa andIllinois. It is headquartered in Wheaton, Ill., and has a majoroperations base in Glendale, Wis.
In Wisconsin, Wheaton Franciscan includes All Saints Healthcare inRacine, Covenant Healthcare in Milwaukee, United Hospital System inKenosha and Affinity Healthcare in the Fox Valley.
