Ozaukee News Graphic

But is a new one needed?

Ozaukee News Graphic, August 2, 2007

By Ed Zagorski
News Graphic Staff

Mequon – Just a few miles south of the proposed regional hospital site in Grafton, Leo Brideau, president and CEO of Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital in Mequon, said Tuesday the announcement of a hospital being constructed in Grafton was troubling to hear.

“I don’t know what needs are not being met to where we would need another hospital a few miles north of us,” he said. “We’ve been very careful with our recent expansion to include everything our patients have asked for. There is no case to be made that there is a need to have another hospital in Ozaukee County.”

The hospital has been serving Ozaukee County since 1940 and the Mequon region since 1994.

Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital officials broke ground in September 2005 for the expansion project at its Ozaukee campus adding 67 inpatient beds and expanded diagnostic and treatment services. The expansion also included a substance abuse treatment program for teenagers.

The project, unveiled in October 2004, transformed the community hospital into a full-service, acute care facility. The project included a new 159,000 square foot inpatient wing, a 162,500-square foot, three-level ambulatory care center and the latest in heart-care services, which opened in 2005.

Hospital officials said the project added between 350 to 400 support staff members to the 975 now employed at the Mequon hospital.

The expansion helps Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital meet the increase in the number of patients being served in Ozaukee County and the increased need for additional health care services, hospital officials say.

The expansions included:

• Inpatient bed tower of 186,000 square feet that will add more beds;
• Central utility plant addition of about 9,500 square feet;
• Services building addition of about 17,000 square feet:
• 32,000-square-foot expansion to the existing building;
• Renovation of 60,000 square feet in the existing diagnostic and treatment facilities.

Brideau said he received a number of e-mails Tuesday from Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital board of directors related to the proposed hospital in Grafton.

“Many of them are concerned that the cost associated with health care will rise because of another hospital in the same county,” he said. “In the end, patients will vote with their feet.”

He said in the 12 months before the fiscal year ended June 30 for Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital, the organization recorded 7,218 patient discharges, 105,000 outpatient visits excluding the emergency room and 20,270 patients treated in the emergency room.

He said the hospital treats patients from Ozaukee, Milwaukee, Sheboygan and Washington counties.

“We have a lot of services to offer,” he said. “I don’t know what is missing.”