Grafton board clears way for hospital expansion

The Grafton Village Board on Monday cleared the way for construction of a 125,000-square-foot addition to Aurora Medical Center.

The board amended a planned use development governing the hospital on North Port Washington Road to allow the project, which includes an enlarged emergency room, a tower with about 80 rooms, a coffee shop, waiting room, conference rooms and lounges, as well as storage, utility areas and restrooms.

The work will be done on the northeast side of the existing building, where a five-story tower will be built for the new patient beds.

In addition, the project includes the renovation of about 31,000-square-feet in the existing hospital.

As part of the project, a green roof will be added, bridging the area between the old and new portions of the hospital.

Once the work is completed, the hospital will have a total of about 216 beds — there will also be four beds added in the existing building — and the staff will grow from 1,350 full and part-time employees to about 1,550, according to plans submitted to the village.

“This (approval) will allow them to move forward with the plan,” Interim Community Development Director Mark Sauer said.

The hospital plans drew praise from village officials.

“I’m fully in favor of the entire project as proposed by Aurora,” Trustee Amy Luft said.

Village President Dan Delorit told the board that after the expansion was announced, he fielded calls from many businesses in the village “saying make this work.”

“As we move forward with this, we know we both have an understanding this is good for Aurora and it’s also good for the village,” he said.

“Many people in the community reached out to me to say this is just great Aurora is moving forward with this. We’re happy to have you grow in the community.”

When announcing the addition, Aurora Health Care President Gabrielle Finley-Hazle said in a letter to the village, “The expansion reflects our ongoing commitment and investment in Wisconsin and to providing exceptional care while meeting the growing needs of those we are privileged to serve. 

“We look forward to continuing our tradition of excellence and making a meaningful difference in the lives of our patients and communities.”

Trustee Lisa Uribe Harbeck asked how the addition will impact the payment in lieu of taxes paid by Aurora, a nonprofit organization that doesn’t pay property taxes.

Delorit said the payment will increase once the addition is occupied, something outlined in agreements reached when the hospital was constructed.  

Construction has begun at the hospital,  but not on the addition, Sauer said.

Aurora applied to the state for an early start permit that allows site preparation work to begin before the final village approvals were given, he said.

Aurora Medical Center in Grafton opened in 2010 and is one of three hospitals in Ozaukee County — the others are Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital-Ozaukee in Mequon, which has 118 beds, and Froedtert Community Hospital in Mequon, which has eight inpatient beds.

Aurora’s Grafton hospital offers care in 59 specialties, with a staff that includes 902 physicians and 568 nurses, according to a hospital statistic sheet.

It offers primary and tertiary specialty care services, with clinical expertise and specialties including heart care, orthopedics, surgical services, women’s health care, neuroscience and emergency care and it has the highest level neonatal intensive care unit in the county.