Wisconsin Institute of Plastic Surgery & Dermatology breaks ground on surgery center

Heather Graves

Staff

August 26, 2024

APPLETON – Dr. Tina Sauerhammer said that had someone told her four years ago that she would build her own surgery center, “I probably would have told you that you were out of your mind.”

“My plans took some twists and turns along the way, but I think it needed to for me to realize that was the best option and what I was meant to do,” she said.

The journey to here

Sauerhammer – a University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (UWGB) grad – said she returned to Green Bay about 10 years ago.

“I decided almost five years ago to start my own practice, Wisconsin Institute of Plastic Surgery & Dermatology,” she said. “I had this vision that I wanted to bring a boutique plastic surgery and dermatology practice to the Green Bay and Fox Valley area, but I wanted it to be patient-centered.”

Sauerhammer said her goal was to create an experience for her patients.

Though Wisconsin Institute of Plastic Surgery & Dermatology had its own clinic, it was not equipped with surgery capabilities – therefore, in order for Sauerhammer to perform the surgery aspect of her job, “we would have to take patients to a hospital setting.”

“When you take these patients who are having cosmetic, elective surgeries to a hospital setting, they are in the mix with patients who are getting medical procedures done,” she said. “Doing so, I feel it takes away from that experience I was envisioning for my patients.”

From the get-go of launching Plastic Surgery & Dermatology, Sauerhammer said she knew in order to achieve the all-around patient-centered approach, having her own surgery center was necessary.

“It’s always been in the back of my mind ever since I started my practice almost five years ago,” she said.

However, the first goal after starting Wisconsin Institute of Plastic Surgery & Dermatology, Sauerhammer said, was growth – which wasn’t easy right away due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I started my practice in November 2019,” she said. “Then just as I was ramping up my practice, COVID hit in 2020.”

As things began to return to normal, “and I really started to become established,” Sauerhammer said she started looking at the next steps – a surgery center.

“It’s definitely been a process,” she said.

Sauerhammer said she first started talking with a local architect about her concept four years ago.

“I showed them my vision,” she said.

In the beginning, Sauerhammer said plans were fluid – plans to look for a plot of land to build a surgery center on eventually transitioned into looking for office space she would convert into a surgical suite – both in Green Bay and the Fox Valley.

After her former mentor, Dr. Dan Dale – “when I first started my practice, I joined his practice so he could teach me the ropes of running a business” – retired, Sauerhammer said his clinic space next to hers remained vacant.

The plan, she said, was to renovate the unused office space into a surgical suite for Wisconsin Institute of Plastic Surgery & Dermatology patients.

“We spent probably a year in the design process, and then we went out for bid,” she said. “The price tag, however, was a lot higher than what I was wanting to do in a building I did not own.”

At that point, Sauerhammer said it became clear that the best move was to “find a good location and build a surgery center from the ground up.”

Then, she said, things took off from there.

Breaking ground

Finding a property and tweaking the design slightly – “we had the design done because when we were going to renovate, we knew exactly what we wanted” – Sauerhammer said, took about two years.

“We definitely started bigger than what I was planning, and we had to bring it down a little bit,” she said. “I think through that whole process, what we have now is really the best for our needs and what’s going to help grow our practice the most.”

Then came the groundbreaking.

Sauerhammer – along with supporters and construction representatives – broke ground on the surgery center at 4100 N. Lightning Drive in Appleton earlier this month.

“That whole area right off of Ballard Road is a booming medical community,” she said, “It’s nice to have that all around us.”

The north Appleton property, Sauerhammer said, is also centrally located within the region.

“We have patients from all over the state who come to see us, so this area is a nice central location for patients,” she said.

When the project is complete – which is expected to be spring 2025 – Sauerhammer said her clinic, currently located at 2700 E. Enterprise Ave. #A, will relocate to the new location.

The more than 8,000-square-foot building, she said, will have two areas of focus.

“One-half of the building is going to be the clinic space where I see patients,” she said. “We’ll have minor procedure rooms in that area, aesthetic services, dermatology services. And then the other side is going to be Wisconsin Institute of Ambulatory Surgery, and that’s going to be our surgical center. It will have one operating room, and we’ll have pre-operative, post-operative and recovery areas on that side as well.”

Breaking ground on the project, Sauerhammer said, is a significant step in this long journey.

“This has been such a long process that I’ve been trying not to get too excited, too quickly, because this is truly a marathon,” she said. “But having the groundbreaking makes it a reality, it’s happening – and it’s so exciting.”

Sauerhammer said she’s already hired staff in anticipation of the surgery center’s opening.

“We’ve been preparing for this for the last year, and it’s very exciting, but it’s also scary because this is a brand new endeavor for me,” she said. “Opening my business almost five years ago was one of the scariest things I’ve ever done. But looking back, it was the absolute best decision ever made in my entire life.”

Sauerhammer said the hope is the surgery center will be on the same trajectory.

“This is something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time, and it’s finally coming to fruition – and we’re just really excited,” she said.

Sauerhammer said the new space will provide her with the opportunity to showcase the patient-centered experience she has always had in mind with her practice.

“We will be able to show patients that this is the type of care we want to bring to the Fox Valley community,” she said.

Up until the groundbreaking, Sauerhammer said she has kept the developing surgery center project mostly under wraps.

“I’ve learned throughout this whole process that things change all the time,” she said. “So I try not to get too excited right away. Until there’s a building there, that’s when I know, ‘ok, this is really happening’ – I try not to get too excited.”

That being said, the groundbreaking served as a “let the cat out of the bag moment,” Sauerhammer said.

“This is happening, and I am excited to start spreading the word and start telling people about it,” she said.

Having the support she had at the groundbreaking – including UWGB Chancellor Michael Alexander – Sauerhammer said, meant a lot.

“UWGB played such an important role in my education and my career – so it’s really special he was able to come and say a few remarks,” she said.

Additional opportunities

Because she currently performs surgeries in a hospital setting, Sauerhammer said she isn’t able to couple other services with cosmetic procedures.

“There are services that patients want to have added to their cosmetic procedures,” she said. “For example, laser treatments or more invasive things like micro-needling with radio frequency treatments – treatments that might be more painful, but we’re not able to do those at the same time in the hospital right now. We will be able to do those types of procedures in conjunction with the surgery center.”

A bit more about Sauerhammer

Sauerhammer is a board-certified plastic surgeon with nearly 10 years of experience performing rejuvenating and reconstructive procedures, one of the only female plastic surgeons in Appleton and Green Bay region and the only doctor fellowship-trained in craniofacial and pediatric plastic surgery in Northeast Wisconsin.

She specializes in rejuvenating procedures for the body, breasts and face, as well as pediatric plastic surgery, transgender confirmation, reconstructive procedures and non-invasive cosmetic treatment.

Sauerhammer is the youngest graduate ever of UWGB – beginning at age 14 – and the University of Wisconsin Medical School.

She is also a former Miss Wisconsin and second runner-up to Miss America.

Before practicing in Northeast Wisconsin, Sauerhammer served as a plastic surgeon, director of the Global Health Initiative and co-director of burn services with Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

After finishing medical school and competing for the Miss America title, Sauerhammer completed her residency in general surgery at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics.

She went on to attend a plastic surgery fellowship at the Lahey Clinic, where she trained at the Harvard hospitals.

Sauerhammer was a member of the team that performed the first full-face transplant in the country, which led to a fellowship at Children’s National Medical Center, where she held a full-time position before entering practice in Northeast Wisconsin.

For more on Sauerhammer and Wisconsin Institute of Plastic Surgery & Dermatology, visit wisconsinplasticsurgery.com.