ThedaCare Medical Center-Fond du Lac officially open

Lori Kaye Lodes

Contributor

May 5, 2025

FOND DU LAC – The sliding doors at the new ThedaCare Medical Center-Fond du Lac are open – officially welcoming patients since mid-April, offering the Fond du Lac community another option for local health care.

The $35 million, 25,000-square-foot medical campus – ThedaCare’s ninth hospital – is equipped with an emergency department, 10 inpatient beds and 24/7 coverage with board-certified emergency medicine physicians.

For patients requiring additional care, observation and tests, Jenny Nikolai, vice president of ThedaCare Medical Centers-Fond du Lac and Oshkosh, said the facility offers computed tomography (CT) scans, X-ray and ultrasound and features select specialty care services, including cardiovascular care in the future.

Located at 755 W. Johnson St., the facility is located near the corner of Johnson and North Peters Avenue, complementing community development underway in the retail district near Interstate 41 (I-41) that many in the area previously knew as the Forest Mall property.

Nikolai said its ease of access off I-41 via Johnson Street makes the new facility a convenient healthcare option for the growing number of area residents.

She said ThedaCare Medical Center-Fond du Lac is a great example of how the health system is striving to improve the delivery of health care in the state through access, clinical excellence, health equity and more.

“We know that demand for access to care continues to grow in Fond du Lac, where city and county populations have steadily increased over the past decade,” she said. 

Understanding the health needs of the community, Nikolai said, included data collection and analysis but also went far beyond it

As part of the discovery process, she said ThedaCare team members met face to face with people in the area to hear their personal stories and were intentional in including people whose voices may be easily overlooked.

Nikolai said that process included asking questions covering a variety of areas – such as the way their lives are becoming healthier, what stands in their way to achieving health and well-being and what they need to enhance their ability to lead healthy lives.

“These are all important questions that, coupled with data, paint a picture of opportunity for action,” she said. “That’s why our approach to improving community health and well-being is about studying health issues and figuring out solutions together, in partnership with the communities we serve, providing an opportunity to meet the patients where they are – where they live, work and enjoy life.”

Nikolai said when the ThedaCare leadership team imagined the Fond du Lac health campus, “we designed it with patients and families in mind.”

“Throughout all of the planning, design work and detail – it’s all focused on our patients and community members,” she said.

Nikolai said ThedaCare’s goal with the new campus is to offer additional care options, in one coordinated system – close to home.

“As a natural extension of the trusted medical care we currently provide the people of this area, we knew we should create a new health campus closer to where more people live and work,” she said.

Not the new kid on the block

Nikolai said this new health campus complements the Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin Fond du Lac East Johnson Clinic, established in December 2023, at 1081 E. Johnson St. – three miles from the new ThedaCare medical center.

That clinic, she said, offers family and internal medicine, X-ray and lab and mammography services.

“We are here for all our patients, working together to provide the highest level of care possible, close to home,” she said. “The opening of the new medical center exemplifies the commitment made when the combined organization formed in January 2024.”

And though the facility may be new, Nikolai said Fond du Lac area residents have received care through the ThedaCare system for decades.

“For decades, ThedaCare has supported a level II trauma center, comprehensive cancer treatment, stroke and cardiac programs, primary care and more throughout various health campuses,” she said. “This campus extends the care we currently provide and gives us an opportunity to ensure access to higher levels of care when needed – which can be done as part of our larger integrated system.”

Nikolai said both the facility and clinic are like others in the ThedaCare health system – meant to be available to patients via a coordinated system offering access to all levels of care.

“This ties to our overall strategy of meeting patients where they are – providing the right care, in the right place, at the right time,” she said.

For those seeking emergency care, Nikolai said the emergency department (ED) is entered via a designated entrance and features eight ED beds and other areas to support care.

The team’s ED workstation, she said, is positioned in the center of the room with treatment rooms on the perimeter, giving teams a direct line of sight into each room.

“When you have an emergency – minutes matter,” she said. “In those instances of emergency and trauma, in particular, time is critical.”

Nikolai said the facility’s teams are prepared to care for the community – no matter the condition.

“We can stabilize and provide care that is needed,” she said. “If a higher level of care is required, we work within our comprehensive system to provide care at the right location. That is one of the benefits of being connected to an integrated healthcare system. We are prepared to care for the whole person.”

Nikolai said more services may be added over time based on community needs.

Teamwork makes the dream work

Serving those who live and work in the Fond du Lac area, Nikolai said, requires the right team. 

ThedaCare Medical Center-Fond du Lac, she said, currently employs 40 team members and 30 providers to support the community 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Nikolai said they look forward to adding caregivers and support staff as the need arises – collectively focused on delivering care locally.

“Our system is committed to keeping care local, (recognizing that) ‘local’ can have many definitions,” she said. “When it comes to health care, it can mean a community member does not need to drive an hour for emergency care, or that higher-level care is available without having to travel to a major metro area.”

Safe, high-quality and local health care, Nikolai said, is critical to the overall strength of a community.

“Our health system is committed to ensuring patients receive the care they expect and deserve,” she said.

Nikolai said ThedaCare has been supporting people’s health and well-being for more than 115 years, delivering care to more than 650,000 residents in 17 counties within Northeast and Central Wisconsin. 

Construction partners for the project, Nikolai said, included Hplex Solutions as the owner representative; HGA as the architect and engineer; Miron Construction Co., Inc. as the construction manager; and the Sigma Group as the civil engineer and landscape architect.

The project started last year – following a February 2024 ground-breaking.