A long-planned federally qualified community health center, backed by a $12 million commitment from Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin, will be developed on a 2.3-acre site at 4603 W. Mitchell St. in West Milwaukee.
Froedtert & MCW unveiled the location of the new health center on Tuesday, nearly three years after it first announced plans to fund a new clinic in a medically underserved area of Milwaukee’s near south side, in partnership with Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers.
The one-story, 24,000-square-foot clinic will be developed on the site currently occupied by National Spring Inc., an auto repair company. Froedtert Health will purchase the property, build and furnish the clinic.
The village plan commission will review the plans Tuesday. If approved, the project would begin construction by the fall, with completion expected in summer 2019.
Cathy Jacobson, president and CEO of Froedtert Health, said the process of identifying a site that met the project criteria – including being located in a high-need area and one that met guidelines for federally qualified community health centers – took longer than anticipated.
When Froedtert and Sixteenth Street officials first announced plans for the clinic, they identified the 43rd Street corridor, just south of Miller Park, as an area of significant need.
“We were able to stay true to that,” Jacobson said of the site. “That’s the whole point – to make sure we are improving access to health care.”
The clinic will offer primary care with integrated behavioral health services, provided by Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers providers. Patients who require advanced care will be referred to Froedtert & MCW.
“We are steadfast in our commitment to breaking down barriers to care by bringing quality medical and behavioral health care into communities most in need and addressing social determinants of health through community-based strategies,” said Julie Schuller, president and CEO of Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers. “This new clinic will allow us to expand access to care for thousands of individuals and families and better serve those we are already touching through increased provider capacity and enhanced space for supplemental and community services.”
The clinic will also provide supportive social services, a pharmacy, wellness classes and a demonstration kitchen for community cooking classes. Cancer prevention education will be available onsite from MCW providers, along with a bilingual community health worker to help patients navigate care. It will also serve as an education site for MCW medical and pharmacy students and residents.
The clinic is projected to serve 12,000 patients a year who are currently without care. It would expand Sixteenth Street’s overall capacity to nearly 50,000 people.
Sixteenth Street serves about 38,000 patients annually across its locations. They include three clinics in Milwaukee County and one in Waukesha, school based-clinics in St. Augustine Prep and St. Anthony Schools, and a satellite geriatric clinic at the United Community Center as well as a Women, Infant and Children clinic.
Kahler Slater is the architect for the new clinic project and J.P Cullen is the general contractor.
