Sept. 30, 2016
Filing part of MCHS plan to offer Chippewa Valley patients more affordable, higher quality care.
Marshfield Clinic Health System today submitted to the City a site plan for its new Eau Claire cancer facility, the next step in MCHS's "Caring for the Chippewa Valley" proposal to build a new hospital with attached cancer care on land just south of its Eau Claire Center.
The Eau Claire Plan Commission and City Council are expected to review the plan in the coming weeks, with construction of the cancer center anticipated to start shortly after City approval.
"Caring for the Chippewa Valley" will help make MCHS a truly integrated local health care system, maximizing efficiencies that will help us start making care more affordable for patients while providing even higher quality services and a great patient experience," said Dr. Susan Turney, MCHS CEO. "It's exciting to see this project continue to move forward, and we are committed to continuing to work cooperatively with the City to make the new hospital and cancer care facility a true community asset."
The cancer care facility and hospital are already permitted uses for the site under current zoning and the City's comprehensive plan. The Plan Commission will review the site plan – which outlines the cancer building's location, size and orientation, as well as features such as landscaping, fencing, lighting, traffic flow, parking, signage, storm drainage, utility lines and outdoor storage for trash and building system equipment – to ensure it complies with City requirements.
The cancer center will be built at the intersection of Craig Road and Clairemont Avenue, current site of the Plaza Hotel & Suites. MCHS has purchased the real estate, and the hotel business will continue to operate the Plaza through December, after which it will be demolished. Preliminary work is expected to start as hotel operations wind down, with the cancer center tentatively set to open in 2017. MCHS physicians and staff will continue to provide cancer care services at the cancer center at Sacred Heart Hospital until the transition.
MCHS will file a separate site plan for a 50-bed hospital with the City in the coming weeks, Turney said.
Marshfield Clinic Health System (MCHS) oversees Marshfield Clinic and other subsidiaries, including Security Health Plan of Wisconsin, Inc., Marshfield Clinic Information Services, Flambeau Hospital in Park Falls and Lakeview Medical Center in Rice Lake. Marshfield Clinic, with more than 50 locations in Wisconsin, serves patients through accessible, high quality health care, research and education; with more than 700 physician specialists in 86 specialties and subspecialties and more than 6,500 employees. MCHS is overseen by a Board of Directors with 13 independent members and 11 physicians who comprise the Marshfield Clinic Board.
