Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com
Published - Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Franciscan Skemp ER center to open Aug. 6
Franciscan Skemp Healthcare announced today that it will open the newly integrated Emergency and Urgent Care Center on Aug. 6.
The 15,000-square-foot facility is located in the north end of the Center for Advanced Medicine and Surgery, on Market Street and West Avenue. The new center will be open 24 hours a day, including urgent care services.
"This is a model truly designed with the patient's needs in mind," said Dr. Robert E. Nesse, president and CEO of Franciscan Skemp. “In the past, patients were often put in the position of trying to 'guess' how serious their condition was. Now, they need only come to one place and a trained medical professional will triage them and ensure they receive care that is appropriate for the complexity of their need."
Patients requiring less acute services will use a model designed to flow the patient in and out in a timely way, he said. Patients needing emergency services will receive the appropriate level of care and have access to the most current technologies, Nesse added.
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Western Wisconsin and Southeastern Minnesota helped create a waiting area featuring original art. A children's area is scaled just for younger visitors and is supplied with books and activities.
Almost half of the $9 million project was funded through a communitywide fund drive. The campaign's largest gift was a commitment of $1 million from the D.B. and Marjorie Reinhart Family Foundation. Ten other leadership gifts, ranging from $100,000 to $500,000, were received in the campaign. Leadership commitments came from Festival Foods, Kwik Trip, Don and Roxanne Weber, Jeb and Pam Griffith, the Russell and Vera Smith Foundation, the Hansen Family Foundation and several other major benefactors.
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