Hospital, elected officials welcome medical center after long process

Smiles, congratulations greet Aurora groundbreaking

Waukesha Freeman, May 18, 2007

By Lisa M. Reed, Freeman Staff

Calling it the gateway to Waukesha County, town of Summit leaders and Aurora Health Care representatives gathered Thursday to break ground for a new $189 million hospital and clinic at Interstate 94 and Highway 67.

Dr. Nick Turkal, chief executive officer for Aurora Health Care, touched on the long time it took for the hospital to be approved by local officials.

It is a delight to reach this day. Breaking ground is like breaking glass, he said. What is going to make this space special is, the people of Waukesha County know how important it is to have relationship(s) with patients. That is what will make this place special.

The new Aurora Medical Center will have 110 patient rooms and offer the latest equipment for diagnosis and treatment, all digital diagnostics, a comprehensive system for electronic health records and an array of other technology.

Our future neighbors to the south and east will be held to higher standards because of you, town of Summit Chairman Len Susa said of the building. I look forward to the completion of this building and the many contributions of this building to the town.

Don Nestor, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Aurora, hinted at the long, often spirited and heavily debated process that led to the hospitals groundbreaking when he thanked those who worked to make it happen.

We look forward to a long and successful partnership, he said.

The medical center campus will be 593,000 square feet and have a 180,00-square-foot medical office building, which will house the staff of Wilkinson Medical Clinic, now located in Oconomowoc.

For Waukesha County, this is another milestone. With this clinic and hospital, we will be able to provide care for each who played a role, said Dr. David Ulery, a Wilkinson physician.

The hospital and clinic will be built on a 156-acre triangle of land in the town that Pabst Farms developers designated for health care-related developments.

As I walk this property and think about what has been here and what will be here, I am amazed. Through this facility we will take care of people like never before, Waukesha County Executive Dan Vrakas said. If we want to control health care costs, this is the way we are going to do it. This is really going to be a great facility. The building itself is going to be a wonderful building with 700-some jobs.

The 53-acre hospital campus will feature extensive landscaping and include a healing garden to offer a retreat for patients, family members and staff. A paved walking path will ring the campus. There will be five separate building entrances, each with adjacent parking, along with entrances for the medical office building, inpatient care, emergency care, cancer center and ambulatory surgery.

As a third-generation county resident, I am looking forward to what you guys are going to do, said Ed Howe, former president of Aurora Health Care.

Employment at the medical center is estimated to be 950 full and part-time employees, including the Wilkinson Clinic employees and those who will move from Aurora Womens Clinic and the Vince Lombardi Cancer Center, both now at the Summit Center Marketplace in Oconomowoc. The hospital will take two years to complete.