Earlier this summer, Advocate Aurora Health tapped JCP Construction for a major upgrade of more than two dozen Milwaukee-area clinics.
According to JCP Construction Project Manager Sharon Reitsma, the improvement project is part of a larger five-year, $50 million dollar initiative by Advocate Aurora Health to improve the interiors of non-acute clinic locations across Wisconsin and Illinois.
“Through our relationship with Advocate Aurora Health and our positioning in the Greater Milwaukee market, JCP will be involved in 31 individual clinics totaling around 350,000 square feet of space,” Reitsma says. “Along with safety and accessibility improvements, aesthetic upgrades will be made to improve the patient experience and bring clinics up to current cohesive branding. AAH wants patients to know they are at an AAH facility and will be well taken care of.”
The remodeling and repairs involve the clinics’ visual appearance to infection prevention and flooring safety.
“What Advocate Aurora Healthcare wants is a conformed modern look on all their clinics – no matter where patients are served,” says Clifton Phelps, JCP Construction Vice-President of Business Development. “They are committed to improving the wear and tear on a hospital and preventing the spread of infections. We’ll look at flooring that doesn’t allow diseases and viruses to seep into the cracks. We’ll install sinks that don’t peel. The idea is to create a safer environment because people may come in sick, but you don’t want them to leave sick.”
JCP Construction has partnered with Advocate Aurora Health in the past, first as a subcontractor for The Surgery Center in Franklin in 2016.
“At every opportunity we were able to gain more experience with Advocate Aurora,” maintains Phelps. “We completed The Surgery Center on Rawson – a small clinic – to gain their trust and experience. With that, we were able to shine and stand out as a team that can complete a project and get it turned around to the owner. When a director of healthcare sees us and says we’re performing well, that’s a good thing.”
Phelps adds that healthcare is important to the overall community – especially the black community – and says it’s wonderful to be improving clinics throughout the city. Construction is expected to begin in Spring 2023.
“I applaud Advocate Aurora Health for taking on this project,” he says. “We have a history of health issues in our community. There’s a lot of high blood pressure, cholesterol, and heart disease, to name a few, that are not being treated. Having the clinics closer to the black community and throughout the City of Milwaukee better prepares us for patients young and old to live longer into the future.”
