By HFT Editorial Staff

Initial construction has begun at ThedaCare Regional Medical Center-Neenah in Wisconsin as part of the $100 million investment to modernize the hospital campus while enhancing and expanding services. Themodernization will allow ThedaCare to expandservices tothe Fox Cities. Current serviceswill remain open during the construction process.

“We are intentionally planning construction phases to allow for patients and families to continue accessing critical services with ease,” says Lynn Detterman, senior vice president of ThedaCare south region. “We are committed to helping patients navigate any changes they might experience at the campus, and we appreciate understanding and patience from community members.”

Highlights of the construction program include:

• expanding and redesigning the emergency department (ED), creating additional care space
• creating an additionalThedaStarair medicalprogram helipad adjacent to the ED for rapid transfer of patients
• enhancing the specialized space to care for stroke patients to continue a coordinated response as a comprehensive stroke center
• updating operating rooms to include advanced robotic surgical equipment and creating four dedicated robotics suites to support better outcomes for patients and develop an outstanding teaching environment as leaders in robotics surgery
• updating the family birth center, allowing families to welcome little ones into the world in a modern, comfortable, and soothing environment
• creating a new environment for the women’s center, which includes mammography, diagnostics and imaging, and bone density testing
• improving and expanding access for behavioral health services by redesigning the inpatient space and reintroducing the day treatment program to the hospital
• designing a new dining area on the main floor.

The initial construction phase began the first week of January 2022 and includes moving offices and departments to begin work on the creation of Main Street, where key diagnostic outpatient services will be located on the first floor of the hospital to ensure easier patient access.

The next phase of construction, which will include work on the new Emergency Department, is scheduled to begin in spring 2022. The full modernization is expected to be complete in fall 2023.