New Facility Planned for Wheaton Franciscan – St. Joseph Family Care Center

GLENDALE, Wis. — Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare will build a new Family Care Center to house outpatient primary care services. The new 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 determined to be a total loss after the area 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, which is 7,000 square feet larger than the former building. The new center will have 28 exam 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.

The Family Care Center, which is 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, is enthusiastic that the new 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 late 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.

The Wheaton Franciscan – St. Joseph Family Care Center was recently recognized as a Level 3 (top) Patient-Centered Medical Home by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).

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The Wheaton Franciscan – St. Joseph Family Care Center is a joint venture between The Medical College of Wisconsin’s Department of Family and Community Medicine and Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare. Founded in 1970, the practice is the primary teaching site for the St. Joseph Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program. The Medical College provides faculty and leadership staff, while the hospital provides the facility and support staff. Located at 2400 West Villard in Milwaukee on the campus of the former St. Michael Hospital, the practice cares for more than 8,000 patients on an ongoing basis and has consistently received national awards for its innovative programs in health maintenance and immunizations.

The Medical College of Wisconsin is the state’s only private medical and biomedical graduate school providing educational opportunities to more than 1,200 students. Medical College faculty members supervise more than 650 physicians in residency programs, including resident physicians who receive training through the Department of
Family and Community Medicine’s program offered in partnership with Wheaton Franciscan St. Joseph.

Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare (WFH) is a Catholic, not-for-profit organization with more than 100 health and shelter organizations in Wisconsin, Iowa, Colorado, and Illinois. Started by the Wheaton Franciscan Sisters more than 125 years ago and formally incorporated in 1983, WFH has corporate services offices in Wheaton, Illinois and Glendale, Wisconsin. In Southeast Wisconsin, WFH is co-sponsored by the Wheaton Franciscan and Felician Sisters and has nearly 11,000 associates, making it the second largest private employer in the area. Hospitals include All Saints in Racine County; Wheaton Franciscan – St. Joseph and The Wisconsin Heart Hospital Campuses, St. Francis, Franklin Hospital, and Midwest Orthopedic Specialty Hospital in Milwaukee County; and Elmbrook Memorial in Waukesha County. The region also includes Wheaton Franciscan Medical Group with more than 350 physicians in more than 50 locations, a network of outpatient centers, three transitional and extended care facilities, Home Health, and Hospice.

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Posted January 18, 2011

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