Aspirus holds clinic ribbon cutting

By IAN MINIELLY

[email protected]

Ironwood - While a visit to the hospital is usually a bad thing, it was cause for celebration Monday as Aspirus held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new 43,000-square-foot clinic.

The celebration is the culmination of over a year-long effort, with general contractor Miron Construction's CEO Dave Voss saying during the Nov. 2, 2015 ground breaking that the clinic would open in November 2016.

While the lack of snow so far this year helped the work stay on schedule, the team of project manager Heather Stoffel and architect Mike Rodriguez, of HDR, Inc. worked hard to ensure the project was 97 percent complete by Monday, even with changes being made as late as last week.

"Beginning Dec. 1, walk-in care (will be) available seven days a week. There are four different covered patient drop-off locations depending on the treatment, 63 fully integrated exam rooms with the gold standard of Electronic Medical Records, a new physical therapy center, family medicine, Wound Care, heart care, general surgery, orthopedics and psychology," Paula Chermside, CEO of Aspirus Ironwood Hospital, said, regarding the clinic's amenities.

Chuck Nelson, Aspirus U.P. Regional CEO, and Chermside spoke about the new clinic and people involved in completing the project and what it means for area residents.

"The community should know Aspirus will continue to be here and into the future. Aspirus has more available locally than ever before and is expanding its ability to provide emergency care with better in-patient treatment and specialty care access," Chermside said.

"People no longer need to leave the building for their health care needs. They can receive treatment under one roof through an efficient process, effectively treating the patients' needs. It is important for local people to see the commitment from Aspirus and return the same commitment to the hospital," Nelson said. According to the surveyors of hospitals, the Aspirus Regional Care Network provides top-notch care. The Wausau facility is ranked as a Top 100 hospital in the country and has a Top 50 cardiology department.

Ironwood earned a Top 20 Critical Access Hospital rating the past two years out of the more than 1,300 critical access hospitals in the country.

All told, Aspirus has invested more than $51 million in medical facilities and care in the Upper Peninsula in recent years. It built a new clinic in Houghton and a new emergency facility is scheduled to open March 27, in addition to Ironwood's new clinic.

The investments support Rick Nevers' (Senior VP of Regional Operations and Systems Integration Officer) claim that Aspirus, as a nonprofit health care organization, reinvests every margin dollar in people, technology and facilities.

In summary, Jeff Nehring, a member of the hospital board, said the new clinic does not only represent the current board, but also shows the vision of past board members looking forward.

One sentiment throughout the event was the pride in Aspirus for its commitment and the local staff for their roles in the community and ability to have a positive impact.

Many people said they never expected Ironwood to get a new clinic. Christie Edde, of Bessemer, attended the ribbon-cutting and was impressed the building was complete, how it looked, and she looked forward to the guided tour.