Growing Sun Prairie Will Get Its Own Emergency Room

By David Wahlberg, The Wisconsin State Journal

Aug. 9–A stand-alone emergency medical facility to be built on the west side of fast-growing Sun Prairie will give residents their first nearby after-hours place to go for broken bones, asthma attacks, abdominal pain and other ailments.

The facility also will reduce ambulance trips to Madison, freeing up Sun Prairie ‘s paramedics to respond more quickly to calls in their city, officials say.

SSM Health Care, which owns St. Mary ‘s Hospital in Madison, on Wednesday announced plans for the emergency room, to open within three years at Highway 151 and Reiner Road.

The facility, which could cost about $6 million, likely will be about half the size of St. Mary ‘s emergency room, said Mary Starmann-Harrison, regional chief executive officer of St. Louis-based SSM Health Care.

The health system, which this week bought 17 acres from the city of Sun Prairie for $4.2 million, eventually plans a “health-care campus ” at the site. That could include an inpatient hospital within a decade, Starmann-Harrison said.

Sun Prairie, which had about 13,000 people in 1980, now has twice that, with forecasts for a population of 40,000 in the next 10 to 15 years.

“We want to grow with the community, ” Starmann-Harrison said. “Our goal is to keep health care local. “

Two years ago, UW Hospital spent $8.8 million to buy 42 acres at the nearby American Center business park on Madison ‘s Far East Side, with officials saying they might build a second hospital there. But no specific plans have been developed, UW Hospital spokeswoman Lisa Brunette said Wednesday.

Two day-time medical clinics, one operated by St. Mary ‘s-affiliated Dean Health System and the other by Group Health Cooperative, have been in Sun Prairie for years, said Mayor Joe Chase.

But most residents must travel to Madison for after-hours care and emergencies. That can mean delays.

“In emergencies, time is essential, ” Chase said. “We don ‘t want to be stopped by a train or something when we ‘re driving an ambulance into Madison. “

Mary Polenske, emergency medical services director for the city, said patients with major trauma or with chest pain, sudden numbness or other symptoms of heart attacks or strokes will still be taken to Madison ERs. But people with broken bones, abdominal pain and other less serious ailments could go to the new facility, she said.

The city has two EMS stations, each with one ambulance and two paramedics. It usually takes paramedics 90 minutes to two hours to bring patients to Madison and to return, Polenske said.

“This will free us up to provide better service to calls that come in, ” she said.

It will also reassure families and the city ‘s significant elderly population, said Bill Clausius, the father of a 16-year-old girl and a former City Council member.

“If anything happens to us, we ‘d definitely benefit from having the quick availability of this facility, ” he said.

Free-standing ERs are rare but an emerging trend in fast-growing cities without hospitals, Starmann-Harrison said. This will be SSM Health Care ‘s first such facility.

The health system also owns St. Clare Hospital in Baraboo, has partial ownership of Stoughton Hospital and Columbus Community Hospital and is affiliated with Boscobel Area Health Care.

Sun Prairie recently purchased 26 acres, including the land SSM Health Care later bought, from Pathway Community Church and the Seventh Day Adventists ‘ Wisconsin Conference, Chase said. The 26 acres will become a tax incremental financing district, he said.

Significant retail development is planned north of the SSM Health Care site. The proposed 890,000-square-foot Prairie Lakes development includes plans for a SuperTarget. A Copps Food Center opened farther north this year.

The health-care campus is another sign of Sun Prairie ‘s robust growth, Chase said.

“This medical facility will be a great attribute and promote additional economic impact in the area, ” he said.

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