ProHealth Care to Add Emergency Department in Mukwonago

ProHealth Care announced today that it will add an emergency department to its multi-specialty outpatient center in Mukwonago, bringing around-the-clock critical care closer to home for area residents.

"Mukwonago community leaders and our patients in the area have expressed their desire for us to provide emergency care nearby," said Susan Edwards, ProHealth Care’s chief executive officer. "We understand how important this is and are pleased that we can make this happen."

Fred Winchowky, Mukwonago village president, welcomed the news.

"For many of us, driving to an emergency department now takes 30 minutes or more," Winchowky said. "We are thrilled that ProHealth Care will be making this kind of care available right here in our community."

As the leading health care provider in the Mukwonago area, ProHealth Care has long recognized the need for more accessible emergency care.

"When it comes to emergency services, the goal is always to provide care as close to home as possible," said Steven Kulick, MD, chief medical officer of ProHealth Care and former chair of the emergency department at ProHealth's Waukesha Memorial Hospital. "Minutes can have a direct impact on better outcomes for our patients."

ProHealth expects to begin the project in the spring of 2014 and open the new emergency department in 2015.

The emergency department will be constructed as an addition to the D. N. Greenwald Center, just off Interstate 43 at Highway 83. It is an ideal site for emergency services, easily accessible for residents of Mukwonago and other area communities.

"This is terrific news and something we’ve been hoping for," said Jeff Stien, chief of the Village of Mukwonago Fire Department, which provides emergency medical services. "This means we can transport patients to an emergency department nearby and get our crews and equipment back in service more quickly."

The new emergency department will provide hospital-level emergency care 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Plans call for 16 treatment rooms and 10 observation rooms for patients who require longer periods of evaluation or treatment prior to discharge. Patients requiring inpatient care will be transferred to Waukesha Memorial Hospital. Waukesha Memorial is now the primary emergency services destination for Mukwonago area residents.

The emergency department will be staffed by the same board-certified emergency physicians who currently staff the two emergency departments at ProHealth Care’s hospitals. The physicians will be supported by complete laboratory and diagnostic services.

The new emergency department is projected to have 19,000 patient visits per year by 2017.

The expansion of services is expected to create about 100 new jobs in the community. ProHealth will need to hire registered nurses, pharmacists, physical therapists, radiology technologists, building services personnel and clerical staff, among others.

The D. N. Greenwald Center houses a ProHealth Care Medical Associates clinic and Waukesha Memorial Hospital outpatient center. The emergency department will enhance the wide range of health services available at the Greenwald Center, which currently includes a full-service cancer center with medical and radiation oncology, cardiac diagnostics, rehabilitation services with occupational therapy, diagnostic imaging and lab services.

The Greenwald Center has 12 primary care providers plus specialty services including:

Allergy

Behavioral health

Cardiology

Dermatology

Gastroenterology

General surgery

Nephrology

Neurology

Obstetrics & gynecology

Occupational medicine

Orthopedics

Podiatry

Pulmonary medicine

Psychology

Rheumatology

The emergency department is being designed by Eppstein Uhen. Construction and equipment costs are expected to total about $38 million.