Glendale-based Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare is planning an expansion of its Franklin facility, which could result in the creation of about 100 jobs.
Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare-Franklin opened in 2008. The five-story, 275,000-square-foot facility is located at 10101 S. 27th St. Originally an outpatient hospital, the facility has expanded services to meet patient demand and has added 32 inpatient beds, including six intensive care unit beds. The facility also houses the 16-bed Midwest Orthopedic Specialty Hospital.
“Once we were up and running the community has asked for more,” said Dan Mattes, president of Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare’s central market. “The people in Franklin, Oak Creek and surrounding communities know we’re here, they are coming here, and they are experiencing high patient satisfaction.”
Meanwhile patient volumes at Wheaton’s St. Francis Hospital on the south side of Milwaukee have remained steady, Mattes said.
To meet the growing patient demand in Franklin, Wheaton Franciscan purchased a 28-acre parcel of land just north of the hospital. There it plans to build a three-story, 65,000-square-foot medical office building. The project will cost $10 to $15 million. If approved by city officials and the Wheaton Franciscan board, the project could begin construction in late summer or early fall and be complete by late spring or early summer of 2013, Mattes said.
Milwaukee-based Eppstein Uhen Architects is doing the design work for the project and the construction management firm will be Kenosha-based Riley Construction.
Physician offices from the third and fourth floor of the Franklin hospital will be moved into the medical office building. Wheaton Franciscan Medical Group will occupy at least 40,000 square feet of the building, Mattes said. Independent specialty physicians could occupy the rest.
The vacated floors in the hospital building will allow for additional expansion of services. Wheaton Franciscan plans to add 20 inpatient beds (bringing the hospital’s total to 52), additional operating room capacity and plans to expand its gastrointestinal services and add a significant expansion of its cardiac care services.
That’s all true but it will also add additional operating room capacity. The cardiac expansion includes a cardiac cath lab, short for catheterization lab. Thanks for clarifying.
The hospital expansion will require the addition of several full and part-time employees, Mattes said. The expected full time equivalent employee addition is about 100, he said. Currently 531 people work at Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare-Franklin.
