Milwaukee-based Aurora Health Care announced that it plans to build a new, $324 million hospital in Kohler.
The hospital, which would replace the Aurora Sheboygan Memorial Medical Center, would be built on a 56-acre site northwest of Union Avenue (County Highway TT) and South Taylor Drive, between the University of Wisconsin-Sheboygan campus and the Acuity corporate headquarters, along I-43.
The site is owned by the Kohler Co. Aurora announced that it has signed a letter of intent with Kohler Co. to lease the property.
Aurora plans to build a hospital, outpatient surgery center and medical office building on the site. It plans to open the facility in 2021.
“The greater Sheboygan community deserves the best, and we’re committed to delivering just that – high-quality, cost-effective care,” said Carrie Killoran, executive vice president of Aurora’s central region, which includes all of Sheboygan County. “We’ve been listening to the community and, with this new site, we hope to have an opportunity to provide state-of-the-art health care in a convenient, central location. We thank the Kohler Co. for making this parcel of land available, and we also look forward to working with the Village of Kohler and City of Sheboygan to help ensure the health care needs of both communities are met for generations to come.”
Aurora has been planning to replace the Sheboygan Memorial Medical Center at 2629 N. 7th St. in Sheboygan for years, but the project has evolved, gotten bigger and been relocated.
Aurora originally proposed in February, 2015 to build a two-story, 66,000-square-foot medical office building and a one-story, 46,000-square foot ambulatory surgery building with a 10,000-square-foot rooftop penthouse on the site of the Field of Dreams sports complex in Sheboygan. At the time, the project was expected to cost more than $86 million.
Late last year Aurora said it had increased the scope of the project and was instead planning to build a new hospital, but was still considering the Field of Dreams site, northwest of Taylor Drive and Saemann Avenue.
Several Sheboygan residents expressed opposition to Aurora’s plans to build a new health care facility on the Field of Dreams site, which is owned by the Sheboygan Area School District. Aurora recently asked the school board to postpone a decision to sell it the Field of Dreams site while it explored other real estate options, which apparently led to the Kohler site, further south of Taylor Drive.
Aurora also announced plans to make a contribution of $500,000 to the Sheboygan Area School District and said it is working with the city of Sheboygan to support the Butzen Farm youth sports facility project.
Aurora previously said it intended to contribute $5 million to build athletic facilities at the Butzen Farm project to replace the ones it would build over at the Field of Dreams site.
The Kohler project is just the latest of several new health care facility projects planned by Aurora. Aurora is planning a $130 million medical office building and an outpatient care center west of Interstate 94 in Kenosha. Aurora also recently announced that it will build a $55.5 million ambulatory surgery center and medical office building at the 84South mixed use development west of South 84th Street, between I-894 and West Layton Avenue, in Greenfield.
