Milwaukee-based Froedtert Health & Medical College of Wisconsin will build the state's first "neighborhood" hospital in Mequon, Wis., to ease capacity constraints at its hospitals.
The 17,000-square-foot hospital will feature a 24/7, seven-bed emergency department and eight inpatient beds for patients requiring more care or tests. The hospital, designed to treat emergencies an urgent care clinic can't, will also have an on-site lab, pharmacy and imaging services.
"Our hospitals continue to experience extremely high occupancy rates, particularly at the academic medical center campus, and there's no indication that trend will change any time soon," said Cathy Jacobson, president and CEO of Froedtert Health. "We see the neighborhood hospital as a way to keep care close to home and free up beds, particularly at Froedtert Hospital." Froedtert Hospital's occupancy rate typically exceeds 85 percent, according to Ms. Jacobson.
The new neighborhood facility will be licensed as an acute care hospital and will be linked to Froedtert MCW health network's EHR. MCW emergency physicians and RNs will staff the hospital.
If the project gains approval, construction is slated to begin in late 2018, with the hospital opening either in late 2019 or early 2020.
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