APPLETON, Wis. — Ministry Health Care announced details regarding the next phase of construction in its multi-year plan to completely renovate and update the St. Elizabeth Hospital campus. The highlight of this next phase includes the construction of a five-story inpatient bed tower that will provide all-private rooms and enhance the quality of care. The project also includes: renovations and upgrades to the cancer center; renovations to the adolescent behavioral health inpatient unit; demolition of the west part of the hospital that was built in 1924; new entrances to the women and families center and surgical procedure area; upgrades to the central utility plant and investment in leading-edge diagnostic and operative equipment.
The project includes a total investment of $108 million. St. Elizabeth Hospital was founded in 1899 and has been serving the community for more than 110 years.
The construction design and amenities were driven by feedback solicited from more than 700 patients and 300 staff. New features include all-private rooms, more accessible parking, healing gardens, redesigned work flows and upgraded imaging services.
Consistent with Ministry’s wellness initiatives, the cafeteria will be replaced and upgraded to a marketplace concept, offering a fresh approach to food service emphasizing healthier food options and a wide variety of choices.
“We designed our inpatient bed tower unit to be structured in a 10-bed neighborhood approach to achieve flexibility and efficiency by adequately responding to the varying types of patients we treat and how many patients are in our hospital at any given time,” said Gary Kusnierz, vice president of performance excellence for Ministry Health Care. “Our philosophy is to work with employees to improve work flows prior to design and construction. This allows for maximum efficiency when providing care in the new spaces.”
This phase is expected to be completed by January 2015. Boldt Construction Co. is serving as general contractor. HGA is the project architect.
Photo source: www.affinityhealth.org.
