Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare, which officially became part of Ascension Wisconsin on March 1, will close its 30-bed campus in Wauwatosa in July.
The campus at 10000 W. Bluemound Road includes the Midwest Spine and Orthopedic Hospital, an emergency department and the Wisconsin Heart Hospital.
The Wisconsin Heart Hospital opened in 2004. It cost $44 million to build, and was a joint venture of the Covenant Healthcare System and a coalition of 90 physicians and 30 private investors. Wheaton bought out its partners and became sole owner of the Heart Hospital in 2006 and has not released the purchase price.
Wheaton doctors have performed orthopedic procedures at the Bluemound Campus since 2011 and added the name “Midwest Spine and orthopedic Hospital” to the campus in 2013.
Wheaton has 192 employees at the campus and “85 percent … have been offered other jobs, and we are working to find positions for the remaining associates,” said Wheaton Spokesperson Anne Ballentine.
Ascension Wisconsin is drafting development plans for the future of the campus. Specific details of those plans were not released, however, the organization hinted that “exciting plans” for the campus will be revealed “in the coming months.”
New patients will not be scheduled after July 1 and the campus will close after the last patient has been discharged on July 8.
All services currently offered at the Bluemound Campus will be moving to Wheaton’s Elmbrook Memorial Hospital campus in Brookfield.
“The Bluemound Campus is uniquely positioned for future development, and leaders are in the planning stages for a new way to use its convenient location and healing environment as part of continued development of the strategic direction for Ascension Wisconsin,” the statement reads.
Wheaton and its eight Wisconsin hospitals officially became part of Ascension on March 1. The combined health care organization, Ascension Wisconsin, now operates 27 hospitals and 114 primary care clinics in Wisconsin and is expected to generate nearly $3.5 billion in revenue annually.
Certain elements of Ascension Wisconsin’s organizational structure and the location of its Wisconsin headquarters were revealed in May.
A BizTimes Cover story published in December examined several aspects of the merger.
