A drawing shows plans for Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare’s Family Care Center that will house outpatient primary care services. Construction of the $6.6 million single story building is expected to begin in fall 2011 and will be completed in July 2012. (Submitted drawing courtesy Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare) MILWAUKEE — Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare will build a Family Care Center to house outpatient primary care services. The medical office will continue to be the teaching site for the St. Joseph Family Medicine Residency Program, a partnership with The Medical College of Wisconsin’s Department of Family and Community Medicine. The former building at 2400 W. Villard in Milwaukee was a total loss after a flood on July 22, 2010.
Construction on the $6.6 million single story building is expected to begin in fall 2011 and will be completed in July 2012. The building will allow for program expansion with 25,000 square feet – 7,000 square feet larger than the former building. The center will have 28 examination rooms, physician offices, conference rooms and space for physician education. Architectural designs are underway with Flad Architects with a completion target of June 2011.
“The Family Care Center has met an important need in the community with high-quality innovative family medicine for nearly four decades. We are thrilled to make this commitment to continue and even expand outstanding primary care services to an underserved population in an area with a shortage of primary care,” said Debra Standridge, president of Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare’s North Market in a Jan. 18 press release from Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare.
The Family Care Center, staffed by family medicine physicians from The Medical College of Wisconsin, provides primary care services in a community that would otherwise have limited access.
“A new office building with expanded services will allow us to continue to provide a modern patient-centered medical home for this community,” said Dr. James G. Slawson, assistant professor of family and community medicine and director of the department’s clinical activities.
Dr. Robin L. Helm, the residency’s program director at the Family Care Center, said the Family Care Center will better facilitate community outreach.
“We’ll be able to build on our success in promoting healthy lifestyles with our patients and in the community,” explained Dr. Helm.
The Family Care Center is temporarily operating in a portion of the former St. Michael Hospital and will remain open until the new project is completed in 2012. Other parts of the former hospital, previous Family Care Center, and the professional office building will be demolished with oversight by JP Cullen and Associates. The new facility will be located on the same campus where the professional office building now stands, a significantly higher site than the former location to prevent flooding issues in the future. The remaining campus will be turned into green space around the new Family Care Center.
