Enhanced medical care is the goal of a new clinic proposed for Oconto Falls. Bellin Health has announced plans to build a clinic at 107 E. Highland Drive, across from Sharpe Care.
“We wanted to be able to serve the community by upgrading our facility and being able to offer an enhanced facility to our patients,” said Amy Dettman, vice president of the physician division.
Bellin Health has operated a clinic in Oconto Falls for almost 20 years; its current facility is at HSHS St. Clare Memorial Hospital.
The new clinic, scheduled to open as early as August 2015, will offer the same providers and the services now available at the St. Clare location, including X-ray, lab work, diabetic education and mammography.
Physical therapy services will be a new offering. Dettman said a number of Bellin clinics already offer PT, allowing physicians and PT providers to work together closely and coordinate care better.
Staff numbers are projected to grow from 10 to 12 employees when the building opens.
A 9,000-square-foot clinic is proposed, 23 percent larger than the 7,300-square-foot space Bellin Health leases now. Dettman said the new facility will feature an improved layout and will be easier to find for patients than the clinic located inside the hospital.
“We thought it was time to do something different,” she said.
The cost of the facility, including land, design and equipment, is $2 million.
According to Paul Vlies, Bellin Health team leader of engineering, the Oconto Falls clinic will be modeled after the Algoma clinic, which opened in April.
“We’ve been honing this clinic design for years. It’s really just an attractive, comfortable and efficient building,” Vlies said.
Bellin Health purchased the land from S&M Machine, of Oconto Falls. Vlies said Bellin Health will build on the lot closest to S&M Machine, leave room for future expansion and sell the remainder of the land.
The project is scheduled to break ground in January
“We really look forward to investing in the community,” Vlies said.
The clinic will be located across from Sharpe Care, a nursing and rehabilitation facility, but the two entities will have no formal relationship.
“We will provide care to patients there, like we do today where our physician goes there and visits patients,” Dettman said.
Bellin representatives met with the city’s planning committee on Dec. 9 to discuss rezoning of the proposed site, currently zoned industrial.
City Attorney Larry Jeske said leaving the zoning as is would “freeze out” Bellin, and he recommended the city rezone the land, possibly to commercial.
Vlies said Bellin has no preference in regards to zoning, “as long as we’re allowed to build and operate the clinic.”
The planning committee recommended contacting the neighbors regarding a proposed change in zoning and holding a public hearing.
Mayor Brad Rice, at the Dec. 9 City Council meeting, formalized the recommendation, so the city could get the ball rolling.
A hearing is scheduled at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 13. The planning committee will meet at 6:45 p.m. when it is slated to decide what zoning change to recommend to the council, which meets at 7 p.m.
Planning committee members expressed enthusiasm for the proposed facility.
“It’s a welcome project for Oconto Falls,” said Alderman Don Osborne, a member of the planning committee.
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