Ascension Wisconsin will close Waukesha micro-hospital, consolidate southeastern Wisconsin services

Ascension Wisconsin will concentrate some specialized care in southeast Wisconsin at certain locations and close its small hospital in Waukesha, the health system said Thursday.

The micro-hospital, a joint venture between Texas-based Emerus Holdings and Ascension, will discontinue operations and services, effective Jan. 13. Emerus manages and staffs the facility, which primarily provides emergency and low-acuity care.

Five alternative emergency departments operate within 15 miles of the micro-hospital. Emerus and Ascension are working to transition workers to open positions at nearby facilities.

The announcement does not impact the two groups’ other joint-venture, micro-hospitals in Menomonee Falls and Greenfield.

Meanwhile, the health system said that St. Joseph Hospital in Milwaukee, Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital – Milwaukee and All Saints Hospital in Racine will soon provide all of its labor and delivery services in southeast Wisconsin.

Ascension spokesman Mo Moorman said they are transitioning birthing services from Columbia St. Mary’s – Ozaukee Campus in Mequon and Elmbrook Hospital in Brookfield to St. Joseph and Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital – Milwaukee.

OB-GYN and outpatient maternal health services, including prenatal and postnatal care, will remain at many clinics as they are today, including at the Mequon and Brookfield hospitals.

Moorman said they are sharing their plans this week with employees and the public and will ensure “thoughtful, operational transitions.”

Meanwhile, Ascension plans to invest $10 million in St. Francis Hospital in Milwaukee to create a comprehensive behavioral health center, with up to 60 inpatient beds. It will offer outpatient, partial hospitalization and inpatient care for adolescents and adults.

The health system plans to centralize all inpatient behavioral healthcare it provides in southeast Wisconsin at the location, meaning it will transition inpatient behavioral health services from its Racine and Mequon facilities to St. Francis over time, Moorman said. Outpatient behavioral healthcare at Ascension hospitals will remain the same as now.

Ascension will also transition its 24/7 cardiac catheterization lab services away from St. Joseph and St. Francis, Moorman said. It will expand services at its Franklin Hospital to include 24/7 cardiac catheterization lab availability and will offer that care at Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital – Milwaukee Campus, Elmbrook and All Saints too.

Ascension highlighted recent investments at Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital – Milwaukee, including dedicated neuro and cardiac intensive care units, a 24/7 obstetrics emergency department and expanded access in the women’s medical center. It’s also invested in a neuroscience program at Elmbrook and a DaVinci robot at St. Joseph for minimally invasive surgery options.

Daniel Jackson, Ascension Wisconsin ministry market CEO, said “quality, viability and sustainability” were the factors that influenced their decisions.

“Regionalizing services to align with patient needs and ensuring the right mix of interventional, disease management and preventive care services will help ensure our infrastructure and service investments enable us to sustainably deliver safe, excellent care to our patients and appropriately resource our care teams,” he said in a statement.

Connie Smith, president of the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses & Health Professionals, which represents workers at St. Francis, said the hospital’s cardiac catheterization lab employees found out Thursday morning they were losing their jobs next month. She noted that St. Francis’ labor and delivery unit closed around the same time two years ago.

“It’s another way to celebrate the holidays in St. Francis,” she said. “They seem to want to let go of employees around that time of the year.”

Smith said they’re glad to see that the hospital will expand to serve more mental health patients, although she wished the investment’s announcement was not combined with consolidation news. She also said Ascension could have “stepped up” sooner, when the county closed its inpatient mental health hospital.

“To make sure that we at St. Francis will be able to give them the care they need and make sure that they’ll be warm and safe, I think that will be a wonderful thing,” she said.

This article first appeared in the Wisconsin Health News daily email newsletter. Sign up for your free trial here.