Official: Major changes possible to Aurora hospital design

Waukesha Freeman, November 7, 2006

By ERIK BROOKS
Freeman Staff

TOWN OF SUMMIT Aurora Health Care wants to begin construction of its new Pabst Farms hospital by spring, a spokesman for the health care system said. We just have to finish our planning process, spokesman Jeff Squire said.

Squire said Aurora should come to the town with specific plans for the facility by the end of the year. However, he said he could not provide many specifics of the anticipated hospital, which was first proposed in the town more than two years ago.

There was a level of detail we never got into when we did our initial planning that we now have to get into with this submittal to the town, Squire said Monday.

In 2004, Aurora announced plans for an $85 million, 88-bed facility located southeast of Interstate 94 and Highway 67 a project backed by town leaders but overturned by the Waukesha County board last year.

Aurora officials have since said they are revisiting the scope of the development, which also will include a replacement for the Wilkinson Clinic in Oconomowoc.

Also, the projects cost may have nearly doubled to more than $160 million, according to court filings by Aurora in a case against Oconomowoc.

Town Chairman Leonard Susa said he expects major changes to the development.

The plans they had were like four, five years old, he said. As in any industry, there have been some big changes in the market.

Susa said industry changes include new technology and a focus on more outpatient services, but he does not know if Aurora plans to reduce the number of inpatient beds planned for the hospital. He expects the town will have more information soon.

I think there is probably going to be a little more square footage in this department than they had planned before and maybe a little less square footage in that department, Susa said. The basic building is a building. I am guessing the footprint will be somewhat the same. We require 50 percent green space. Its not going to be that big.

Construction will mean the culmination of a lengthy effort by Aurora to build a new hospital in western Waukesha County.

Aurora first sought to build in Oconomowoc but sued the city in 2001 after the common council voted to block rezoning necessary for construction on a site northeast of I-94 and Highway 67 now slated for a regional shopping center.

That lawsuit and another filed against the county board after it voted against the town of Summit hospital was settled in August with an agreement signed between the town, Oconomowoc, Pabst Farms and Aurora leaders.

The deal called for Oconomowoc to exercise extraterritorial zoning powers to ensure the hospital gets built in the town. The ETZ process wrapped up last week with a vote by the Oconomowoc Common Council authorizing the rezoning of the Pabst Farms land.

Susa, the Town of Summit Plan Commission and board will have a chance to sign off on the project before building permits are issued.

Oconomowoc officials also must approve the development to ensure it meets the standards outlined in the rezoning process, Susa said.

Construction is expected to take 18 months after the building permit is issued, he said.