Hammes Company: Wisconsin healthcare reaches new heights

Contact:
Andrea Harnden, Corporate Marketing Manager, 630-836-0325 x2409

LONGTIME PARTNERS AURORA HEALTH CARE AND HAMMES COMPANY RAISE THE BAR FOR CARE AND CONVENIENCE WITH AURORA MEDICAL CENTER IN SUMMIT

SUMMIT and BROOKFIELD, Wis., April 1, 2010 – When the Aurora Medical Center in Summit welcomed its first hospital patients March 1, the new facility instantly set a higher standard for healthcare delivery throughout the region. The four-story, 800,000 square foot complex offers more choices in primary and specialty care than any other provider in Wisconsin’s Waukesha County.

In addition to the newly opened 117-bed hospital, the Summit campus includes the attached medical office building (MOB) and cancer center, which opened ahead of schedule in October. This one-stop healthcare destination also offers the added convenience of the Aurora Wilkinson Medical Clinic, a new pharmacy, vision center, Vince Lombardi Cancer Clinic, lab and diagnostic services – all under one roof.

The new medical center is located at an easily accessible and highly visible site southeast of the intersection of Interstate Highway 94 and Wisconsin Highway 67, just south of Oconomowac and about 10 miles west of Waukesha. The 53-acre campus satisfies the area’s current healthcare needs while allowing for future expansion of the facilities.

Although it is new, the Summit campus is also part of Aurora Health Care’s long-range strategy – and part of a long-term collaboration with Brookfield-based Hammes Company. It has been 23 years since Milwaukee-based Aurora began building an integrated healthcare delivery network across the state of Wisconsin, and 17 years since Hammes Company was first retained as the system’s program manager.

During that time, Hammes Company has provided master facility planning and project management services for numerous medical office facilities and ambulatory centers for Aurora Health Care, including six new hospitals, four hospital additions and more than 100 ambulatory care centers.

“With the opening of the hospital portion of the Summit campus, we can offer our patients access to a full spectrum of inpatient and outpatient services, all under one roof,” says Rebecca Flink, Vice President Facilities Development at Aurora Health Care. “The team at Hammes Company did an excellent job of managing the development of this important project for us, just as they have done for nearly two decades.”

“We are pleased to have had the opportunity to work closely with Aurora Health Care on this and many previous projects,” says Hammes Company Chairman and CEO Jon Hammes. “ Aurora Medical Center in Summit epitomizes Aurora’s nationally recognized, patient-focused vision of integrated healthcare delivery.”

Indeed, the hospital and clinic sections of the Summit complex are connected on all four levels, creating a seamless transition between inpatient, outpatient and ancillary spaces. Similar services are also grouped by floor with, for example, the clinic’s OB/GYN, women’s health and pediatrics offices on the same level as the hospital’s labor and delivery rooms. That interconnectivity enhances efficiency and convenience for both patients and staff.

Taking its cues from the surrounding LakeCountry of southeastern Wisconsin, the design of Aurora Medical Center in Summit creates an almost resort-like environment emphasizing warm tones, curved walls and furniture, and an abundance of natural light. Other notable features of the patient-center design include inpatient rooms with home-like furnishings, family lounges on every floor, an outdoor healing garden and chapel, and a women’s center with a spa-like atmosphere. It also boasts five separate entrances to provide quick access to specific parts of the facility, and plentiful surface parking.

The facility was designed by Detroit-based Albert Kahn Associates Inc. The general contractor was M.A. Mortenson Co. of Minneapolis. Mechanical and electrical engineering services were provided by KJWW Engineering.

When fully staffed, Aurora Medical Center in Summit will directly employ about 600 people, and local leaders anticipate that the campus will spur additional economic development in the area.

About Aurora Health Care
Established in 1984, Aurora Health Care is a not-for-profit Wisconsin health care provider and a nationally recognized leader in efforts to improve the quality of health care. Aurora has sites in more than 90 communities throughout eastern Wisconsin, including 13 hospitals, more than 140 clinics and over 80 community pharmacies. More than 3,400 physicians are affiliated with Aurora Health Care, including more than 900 who make up Aurora Medical Group and the 250 physicians of Aurora Advanced Healthcare. For more information, please visit www.aurorahealthcare.org