St. Elizabeth Hospital announces expansion, remodel project
11 / 23 / 2009
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Maria Heim, Media Relations
Affinity Health System
(920) 720-1752
(920) 554-0686 (pager)
APPLETON, Wis. - St. Elizabeth Hospital made a commitment to the community in 1899. Reaffirming that same commitment today, St. Elizabeth Hospital announces an expansion and renovation project to provide personalized care to the Appleton community for the next 110 years.
The expansion project – to kick off on Dec. 3 – will include a total investment of $65 million over the next three years in renovations and remodels to the Emergency Department; Outpatient Rehabilitation; Outpatient Procedure Space; Women & Families BirthPlace Unit; Breast Center; Radiology; and Cancer Center. The hospital’s power plant will also be expanded and renovated, reducing the hospital’s energy usage by 30 percent.
“Following in our founders’ footsteps – the Franciscan tradition– we’re not only committed to caring for those in this community, we’re also committed to being stewards of our local resources,” Travis Andersen, president of St. Elizabeth Hospital said. “We’ve made a promise to provide our patients with the personalized care they ask for and this remodel allows us to better fight the top two killers, heart disease and cancer, while keeping patient costs contained through lean design and processes.”
The remodel and expansion project will have the fingerprints of more than 700 patients who provided their input through interviews, shadowing and questionnaires. Some of the suggestions that will be used include more accessible parking, completely private outpatient procedure rooms and more privacy throughout the clinics.
“We listened to our patients to hear how they wanted to have their health care delivered,” Gary Kusnierz, vice president of performance excellence said. “Before we ever put a shovel in the ground we do our research to learn what the patient wants. Then we figure out how to design and build facilities to meet their needs and expectations through the most sustainable means possible.”
St. Elizabeth Hospital has not gone to the community for support since 1962, when the last significant remodel of the hospital was done. The 2010 expansion and remodel will be funded through a combination of support from Affinity Health System sponsors, cash from operations and community support through a fundraising campaign.
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For the Editor:
Affinity Health System, a Catholic mission-oriented regional health care network, is a partnership of Ministry Health Care and Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare. Affinity Health System is the Fox Valley’s third-largest employer, according to the Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce & Industry, and has been nationally listed for two years in a row among the top 50 hospitals for quality and efficiency (Thomson Reuters, Modern Healthcare; 2009, 2010). For eight consecutive years, Affinity Health System has been named to the SDI Health (formerly Verispan) Integrated Health Network Top 100, an annual assessment of the 100 most highly integrated health care networks in the nation – Affinity ranks no. 29 in the 2009 report. Both St. Elizabeth Hospital in Appleton and Mercy Medical Center in Oshkosh rank among the top 1 percent of hospitals nationwide in terms of quality and efficiency, as determined by the 2007 Premier | CareScience Select practice National Quality Award. Network Health Plan has achieved Excellent accreditation status from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), the highest possible level. It has been nationally ranked in the Top 50 Health Insurance Plans for five consecutive years in the U.S. News and World Report/NCQA Best Health Plans in America listing. Members of Affinity include Mercy Medical Center and Mercy Health Foundation, Oshkosh; St. Elizabeth Hospital and the St. Elizabeth Hospital Foundation, Appleton; Affinity Medical Group, a regional network of 26 family practice and specialty clinics – including two fully operational Medical Home models – in 14 communities; Calumet Medical Center, Chilton; Network Health Plan, Menasha; and Affinity Occupational Health.