Byline: Guy Boulton
Dec. 16--The parent organization of Covenant Healthcare and All Saints Healthcare plans to build an $80 million outpatient center to serve the fast-growing cities of Franklin and Oak Creek and northern Racine County.
The 275,000-square-foot complex will be built in Franklin on a 55-acre site at the northwest corner of S. 27th St. and Oakwood Road.
Oak Creek and Franklin, which have a combined population of more than 60,000 people, are roughly 10 miles from the nearest hospital.
'What we provide is access to care close to home for the people in Franklin, Oak Creek and northern Racine County,' said John Oliverio, president and chief executive officer of Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare, the parent of Covenant and All Saints.
The outpatient center, which will employ about 200 people, will include a surgery center, imaging center, physician offices, physical therapy and other rehabilitation services, a lab and a walk-in clinic.
The center will have 16 beds for patients who need to stay overnight after surgery.
It also will have an emergency room that will be open 24 hours a day to handle minor medical problems such as a broken ankle or a serious laceration.
Construction is scheduled to begin next year and the center is expected to open in late 2007.
The outpatient center would be the latest local project in the biggest boom in health care construction nationwide since the 1950s and 1960s.
In Milwaukee, Columbia St. Mary's has begun work on a $417 million hospital on the city's east side that will combine and replace the former St. Mary's and Columbia hospitals. It also has begun work on an $85 million expansion of its Mequon hospital.
Froedtert & Community Health, Children's Hospital and the Medical College of Wisconsin also are in the midst of various construction projects. And Aurora Health Care completed a $180 million expansion of Aurora St. Luke's Medical Center in May 2004.
The Wheaton Franciscan outpatient center is another example of health care systems moving to serve fast-growing suburban areas.
Franklin, for instance, issued 500 building permits for single-family houses last year, said Mayor Tom Taylor. The 36-square-mile city is expected to grow to from 33,000 now to 45,000 people by 2020.
The outpatient center is designed for patients who don't need the services of a large hospital but may need to stay overnight, said Roberta Johnson, a Covenant executive who will be the project manager.
'We believe this is where the future of health care is going,' Johnson said.
The outpatient center is about 10 miles from Aurora St. Luke's and Covenant's St. Francis hospitals.
'To have this facility just across the road is a blessing for Oak Creek,' said Mayor Richard Bolender.
Oliverio, the chief executive of Wheaton Franciscan, said the outpatient center is expected to break even in two years.
It also could increase referrals to St. Francis Hospital and to All-Saints.
St. Francis, which is near St. Luke's, is expected to lose market share now that UnitedHealthcare, one of the state's largest managed-care companies, has added Aurora's hospitals and clinics to its network. St. Francis had been the only hospital in south Milwaukee that belonged to UnitedHealthcare's network.
Wheaton Franciscan, though, has been considering building an outpatient center in south Milwaukee County for five years, Johnson said.
Wheaton Franciscan Services Inc., based in Wheaton, Ill., operates health care systems, nursing homes and retirement communities in Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois.
It had a net profit of $53.9 million on revenue of $1.7 billion in its fiscal year ended June 30.
Covenant, which operates four hospitals, had a net profit of $14.9 million on revenue of $826.1 million in the 2005 fiscal year. All Saints Healthcare had a net profit of $24.9 million on revenue of $376.5 million for the same period.
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