ThedaCare completes $100 million expansion of Neenah hospital: New emergency department, more care areas
Benita Mathew
NEENAH - ThedaCare completed the expansion of its Neenah hospital that includes a new emergency department, stroke center and upgraded women's center.
The health system announced the $100 million expansion in October 2021 and began construction in January 2022. The project was funded in part by donors of the ThedaCare Foundation-Neenah. The foundation raised over $15 million from community contributions and $25 million from existing assets to cover $40 million of the project's costs, according to a release from ThedaCare.
The remaining cost was paid for by the ThedaCare Family of Foundations and funds ThedaCare had available.
ThedaCare partnered with Miron Construction, Hplex Solutions and HGA on construction.
Upgrades and additions included in the expansion include:
- Expanded emergency department double in size, with 20 exam rooms and specialized rooms for trauma and behavioral health
- A second helipad for ThedaStar Air Medical Program next to the emergency department. The ThedaStar Air Medical Program began using the new helipad July 10.
- Redesigned trauma center
- Enhanced specialized care with the Comprehensive Stroke Center. It now offers more care to patients who suffered a stroke or brain injury, including a new driving simulator to help determine if patients are safe to go back on the road.
- Updated operating rooms with robotic surgical equipment
- Updated Theda Clark Peters Family Birth Center
- Rebuilt in-patient behavioral health space with 19 private patient rooms and relaxation and exercise spaces
- Creating an Obstetrical Emergency Department and Hospitalist Program in the birth center to provide more hospital-based women's services. The program will start in February.
- A new Graduate Medical Education program that offers residencies and fellowships to those who finished medical school. It will be the first hospital in northeast Wisconsin to offer such a program outside of Milwaukee and Madison after accreditation for the program is completed.
- A new physical and occupational therapy suite
- Created new space for the Women's Center
- A retail pharmacy of the hospital that will be open 24 hours, seven days a week
- A remodeled first floor with easier access to outpatient testing
- A new dining area
The Women's Center was upgraded to make it more comfortable for women who are coming in for mammograms or other testing.
The Obstetrical Emergency Department and Hospitalist Program will have in-house physicians who provide obstetric and labor delivery in the emergency department, said Lynn Detterman, senior vice president for ThedaCare's south region.
Traditionally, when a woman was in labor and came to the emergency department, she would wait until the hospital contacted her OB-GYN to come in and deliver the baby. The new in-house physician will be able to deliver the baby if the OB-GYN can't come quickly.
"We don't have to always wait for that physician to race to the hospital," Detterman said.
It will take two years to finish accreditation for the GME program and become a teaching hospital, Detterman said.
The bigger emergency room will also be crucial in treating patients who come in struggling with mental health issues, said Dr. Ray Georgen, ThedaCare System Trauma Medical Director. They "tend to cross over and often become trauma patients" so the new trauma rooms will improve their care, Georgen said.
Another key part of improving care is the closer access between the emergency department and the added helipad. The original helipad was on the other side of the hospital away from the emergency department.
"Now it's just a matter of feet and the helicopter will land and we can start life-saving measures much faster," Georgen said.
More:ThedaCare, Froedtert to merge Jan. 1. Here's how it will affect Fox Valley patients
Benita Mathew is a health reporter for the USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. Contact her at bmathew@gannett.com.