Making a Difference: This year’s Bart and Cherry Starr award recipient bleeds Green and Gold
FVTC, Children’s Wisconsin partnership supports Go Baby Go in the Fox Valley
November 17, 2022
Texas-based Nutex Health to open Bellevue location
BELLEVUE – ?Nutex Health, based in Houston, Texas, plans to open two facilities in Wisconsin – one in Bellevue at Monroe Road and Highway 172 and the other in Milwaukee.
The locations are described as “ERs and hospitals.”
Work has begun at the Bellevue site.
Nutex Health (NASDAQ: NUTX) describes itself as “a physician-led, technology-enabled healthcare services company comprised of a hospital division with 21 facilities in eight states and a primary care-centric, risk-bearing population health management division.”
?Complete details on the Wisconsin locations are yet to be publicly released.
According to Nutex’s growth strategy report released July 13, from 2023-24, 17 more facilities will either be under construction or in advanced planning stages and are anticipated to open in Wisconsin, Florida, Ohio and Idaho.
Recently opened locations have an ER with nine to 14 private exam rooms and four to 14 inpatient beds.
National chain Concentra to open medical center in Ashwaubenon
ASHWAUBENON – Concentra, which describes itself as “a leading health care company focused on improving the health of America’s workforce, one patient at a time,” announced it is opening a location at 2920 Ramada Way in Ashwaubenon.
According to its website, Concentra – which provides occupational medicine, urgent care, physical therapy and wellness services – is a division of Pennsylvania-based Select Medical, a subsidiary of Select Medical Holdings, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Hospital expansion in Fond du Lac making progress continues on Aurora Health Center expansion
FOND DU LAC – Progress continues on the expansion project that will turn Aurora Health Center in Fond du Lac into a hospital.
Officials said the project, which was re-announced in early June after it was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, is more than 50% through the planning, design and construction process.
Advocate Aurora Health is adding a new 70,000-square-foot hospital that will include 10 inpatient beds and an eight-bay emergency department, bringing the clinical space up to 185 square feet.
Aurora Medical Center–Fond du Lac, located 210 Wisconsin American Drive, is expected to welcome its first patients in early 2024.
The expansion is estimated to cost $74 million.?
Aurora Medical Center–Fond du Lac will partner with the larger Aurora Medical Center-Oshkosh to increase access to integrated healthcare in the region.
Marinette’s ‘Biehl Bridges to Recovery’ granted $500,000
MARINETTE COUNTY – ?Biehl Bridges to Recovery, a Marinette County Group Home Association branch, recently received a three-year grant of $500,000 from the Community Impact Grant Program at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
The Wisconsin Partnership Program grant will fund an initiative called “Advancing Health Equity through Economic Stabilization within the Recovery Community,” which creates access to sustainable employment and helps provide economic stability for individuals in the county impacted by substance use disorders.?
Organization representatives said the initiative plans to achieve this through peer recovery coaching and by educating employers on policies and practices to build Recovery Friendly Workplaces (RFW).
The initiative will also focus on supporting individuals in recovery who are involved in the criminal justice system that may need additional support to achieve sustainable employment.
Bellin debuts new AI technology to identify early diabetic retinopathy
GREEN BAY – ?Bellin Health in Green Bay announced it has rolled out autonomous artificial intelligence (AI) technology called IDx-DR, which identifies early diabetic retinopathy.
When a concern is identified, the patient is referred to an ophthalmologist for additional testing and treatment.
“Diabetic retinopathy is a leading cause of visual problems and blindness, making early detection critical,” Brad Wozney, a Bellin family medicine physician, said. “There have been a number of challenges in obtaining high rates of diabetic eye exams for these patients, and this new technology will help overcome these challenges.”
Wozney said funding for the program comes from an independent medical education grant secured by DKBmed from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., which allows Bellin and Digital Diagnostics to implement the retinal exam technology.
“Vision loss related to diabetic retinopathy often happens so gradually that the patient doesn’t realize it is occurring,” he said. “But with early detection, we can treat or slow progression and help to prevent blindness.”?
For more information, see bellin.org/diabeticeye.
Other healthcare news:
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) announced a free telehealth service aimed at streamlining access to COVID-19 antiviral treatments, which must be taken within five days of the onset of COVID symptoms.
Anyone 18 and older who tests positive can have a telehealth consultation that may result in a prescription for an oral antiviral pill, with the goal of reducing the risk for severe symptoms. Insurance is not required.
Consultations are available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week.
See dhs.wisconsin.gov/covid-19/telehealth.htm or call (833) 273-6330.
Representatives from Bellin Health in Green Bay and Gundersen Health in La Crosse said details of their merger, which was announced earlier this year, are being finalized.
When the merger is complete, each entity’s philanthropic foundations will remain separate and continue to support programs in their individual service areas.
For more information, see bellin.org/bellin_foundation.
Tickets for the 25th Annual St. Nicholas Eve Gala, hosted by the HSHS St. Nicholas Foundation set for Friday, Dec. 2, at The Osthoff in Elkhart Lake are now available.
Proceeds from the gala will support Charity Care at HSHS St. Nicholas Hospital, a program that serves vulnerable patients in the community.
The evening will feature dinner and live music by Big Mouth & The Power Tool Horns.
Tickets are $150 per person.?
See stnicholashospital.org/gala for more information.
Froedtert Holy Family Memorial Hospital in Manitowoc invites the community to purchase lights for its Love Light holiday tree in honor or memory of a loved one.
A virtual lighting of the tree will be held at 5 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1, which can be viewed through the hospital’s Facebook page.
It will remain lit through Jan. 6.
Love Lights support the Veterans Health Fund.
Lights start at $10.
More details available at hfmhealth.org/donate/lovelight.
?Holy Family Memorial Ortho Now, which offers same-day care for orthopedic and sports-related injuries, is now open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 1414 N. Taylor Drive, Suite 110, Sheboygan.
See hfmhealth.org/ortho-now for more details.
According to Warren Vaz, an associate engineering professor at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Fox Cities campus, total energy consumption decreased 7.5% nationwide in 2020 compared with 2019.
Vaz’s study credits the decrease to the COVID-19 pandemic-led lockdowns, business closures and employees working from home.
Vaz is the first to quantify the effects of pandemic disruptions on energy consumption trends across the nation.
