MEDICAL ADVANCEMENTS

Columbia St. Mary’s answers call in Mequon

By Rebecca R. Konya

Columbia St. Mary's Hospital has big plans for its Ozaukee campus in Mequon.

Hospital leaders expect to break ground on a 330,000-square-foot expansion project next summer. The addition, which will include a new inpatient wing, an ambulatory care center and cardiovascular services, should reach completion by 2007.

The Ozaukee campus, which opened in 1994, has experienced steady increases in patient volume throughout the past decade. In the last five years alone, outpatient visits have increased 37 percent and surgeries 33 percent.

"Over the years, our facility has become the hospital of choice in the area, and the number of patients we serve has increased," said Leo Brideau, president and chief executive officer of Columbia St. Mary's.

The $100 million makeover will help the hospital better respond to increasing patient volume and meet the growing demand for expanded health-care services. As the only hospital in Ozaukee County, the Columbia St. Mary's campus has periodically experienced a shortage of beds. Typically, when that happens, patients are transferred to one of Columbia St. Mary's two hospitals on Milwaukee's east side.

"It's clear we need to continue to expand our facility to meet the needs of the area's growing population," said Brideau.

Brideau said that patients who have been transferred have told hospital administration that, in the future, they would prefer to remain at the Ozaukee campus for all of their health-care needs.

"More and more, patients tell us they want a full-service hospital in this community," he said.

The expansion plans will transform the existing 106-bed community hospital into a full-service, acute-care facility with 183 beds. The concept for the updated facility was conceived using evidenced-based design medicine, which demonstrates how architectural and design elements improve patient outcomes, increase patient satisfaction and enhance operational efficiency and productivity.

Along with a new inpatient wing, the expansion project will add a three-level ambulatory care center that includes a pharmacy and expanded services in medical imaging, comprehensive women's services, rehabilitation and surgery. The center also includes space for medical offices.

Among the other features of the expansion are a new nine-bed medical/surgical unit, three additional beds in the intensive care unit and two surgical suites for cardiovascular and general surgery. The hospital's expanded cardiovascular services, which will offer a complete range of heart care, including open-heart surgery, will be available in early 2005.

"The Ozaukee hospital expansion is part of Columbia St. Mary's commitment to provide quality health-care services in a cost-efficient manner," said Brideau.

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