This drawing shows the tentative layout planned for the new Aurora facility on the outskirts of Burlington – a planned $75 million project. (Artwork submitted by Aurora)
By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
After announcing in early 2014 that a new service facility would be constructed right outside of Burlington, Aurora Health Care officially released plans last week for its new ambulatory care facility.
The sale of the land for the facility will be finalized in the next few weeks, and officials from Aurora said they hope to begin site preparation for the estimated 160,000-square foot building in November.
The building is the major component in a $100 million investment package Aurora announced in February – one that includes planned upgrades to Aurora Memorial Hospital of Burlington and Lakeland Hospital in Elkhorn.
A breakdown of the new facility:
• It is expected to be about a $75 million project. The main entrance will be located off Spring Valley Road.
• The Memorial Hospital of Burlington Community Foundation has pledged $1 million to the development of the cancer center at the site.
• In addition to the cancer center, there will be an accredited breast care program, outpatient surgery, endoscopy, physical rehabilitation, imaging – including a woman’s imaging department for procedures such as mammograms – orthopedics and sports medicine, a pharmacy and lab services.
• The building is expected to open in 2016.
“I’m glad it’s finally coming to fruition,” said City of Burlington Mayor Bob Miller. “I think the lobbying the city did, as well as some of the physicians, finally paid off.
“We’re getting a brand-new facility in Burlington where it belongs,” he added.
However, Aurora Burlington/Walworth President Lisa Just and Public Relations Counsel Adam Beeson stressed the plans do address more than just the Burlington area.
“This is a very regional project,” Beeson said. “This is going to be for all the surrounding facilities.”
Just added, “This is a market-wide strategy for us.”
Aurora will also be investing in physician recruitment and retainment for the area.
Recent history
Memorial Hospital of Burlington joined with Aurora in 1996. However, Aurora’s decision to end labor and delivery services in Burlington in late 2012 created a local furor.
While Aurora officials said the current rate of births in the city did not make for a practical business model – hence merging the department and providing it at Lakeland near Elkhorn – city officials considered the change a possible indication of Aurora’s plans for the hospital in the future.
In the first half of 2013, Miller and a committee of citizens began looking at other options – including inviting another hospital to build a facility in Burlington. United Hospital System of Kenosha did contact the city, and Miller said he had conversations with at least one other provider that expressed interest only if Aurora pulled out or scaled back heavily.
The tense situation dated back 12 years before that, however, as Aurora had initially announced it had plans to consolidate Lakeland and Memorial Hospital of Burlington into a single regional medication center – fears that were renewed when Aurora pulled out the labor and delivery department.
It took until late January of this year for Aurora to announce its plans for the city. When they did, Miller greeted the prospect with clear enthusiasm.
“This is a shot in the arm for the area (and) it’s a win-win for everyone,” he said.
The new center is slated for a 70-acre parcel of land along the Burlington bypass near Highway 36, located on Spring Valley Road. Some residents on that road have objected to the annexation of the land and the placement of the center on that road, concerned about possible flooding in the wetland area and also their quality of life.
Planning ahead
In a conference call on Sept. 18, both Just and Beeson said the project planning was close to fruition. Just said Aurora expected to close on the property in mid-October.
With the City of Burlington already well into the annexation process as well as the extension of sanitary sewer and water to the site, Just expected zoning and public approval by late November. Aurora will begin site preparation at that time.
While Aurora has determined most of what will move out to the new facility, its plans for both Memorial Hospital in Burlington and Lakeland Hospital remain up in the air.
The new building needs to be finished and current services moved out before Aurora can determine what changes to make. Beeson likened it to a series of dominoes.
“It’s a matter of going through the process with this facility,” said Beeson of the new center.
In the meantime, the new ambulatory center has Just excited for a number of reasons. The cancer center will now include psychological support staff on site, as well as genetic counseling, infusion (chemotherapy and blood products) and possibly radiation oncology.
“We’ll be able to provide a much more robust oncology program,” Just said. “We’ll be able to add additional services.”
Just also thanked the Memorial Hospital of Burlington Community Foundation for its “incredible generosity” in the $1 million gift, which she said will be part of a larger community campaign.
The site plan released by Aurora last week also addressed the wetlands in the area, with a handful of retention ponds included and wetland areas protected. Aurora also plans to connect the bike paths located in the area to the facility.
“We’re really excited to offer that to the community, for their recreation and wellness,” Just said.
Physical rehabilitation services currently offered at the Aurora Wellness Center will move to the new site, but aquatic therapy will stay at the Wellness Center.
The creation of new jobs at the new site is up in the air, as Aurora is still trying to determine how the ambulatory center will impact its staffing models.
Some services will remain where they are. Burlington’s new cardiac rehab site will stay at the hospital, and the sleep disorders and in-patient rehab services at Lakeland.
Just stressed that emergency services and in-patient services will remain at the local hospitals as well.
Beeson added that the new building will help shape health care in the entire market.
“It’ll be exciting to see the future of health care happening right there,” he said.
Annexation approved
The City of Burlington Common Council had to table the approval of the annexation request Sept. 16, but moved forward two days later when a letter from the Wisconsin Department of Administration arrived.
That letter said the annexation met the state’s requirements, which allowed the city to formally annex the land on Spring Valley Road.
The land was also permanently zoned B-1 neighborhood business district.
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