Children’s Wisconsin to open urgent care center on Milwaukee's northwest side in 2025

Children’s Wisconsin plans to open a new urgent care facility on Milwaukee's northwest side in 2025.

The $6 million project will be located at 7201 W. Good Hope Road, next to the Uihlein Soccer Park.

It'll replace Children's Good Hope Pediatrics clinic a half-mile away at 7720 Good Hope Road. That facility, which has operated since 2005, will move its services to the new location, including its mental and behavioral health therapists. The urgent care services will relocate from Children’s Wisconsin Mayfair clinic, at 3040 N. 117th St. in Wauwatosa.

Weas Development, which will oversee the construction, presented renderings of the 20,000-square-foot health clinic during the Granville Advisory Committee’s monthly meeting Wednesday.

Here's a rundown of the plan:

The area has the second-largest pediatric population in Milwaukee

The new building will allow Children’s Wisconsin to expand its primary care services, add pediatric-dedicated urgent care services, and will include onsite imaging services. Children's said this area has the second-largest pediatric population in Milwaukee.

“We are excited to be able to bring urgent care to this community as well as expand our pediatric practice,” said Mary Sisney, vice president of primary care at Children’s Wisconsin.

The urgent care services will serve children ages birth to 18. It will operate seven days a week, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Primary doctor office hours will only operate weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The facility will house 25 employees and expects to serve about 100 families. Board-certified pediatric doctors will be on staff.

Sisney noted occasionally the clinic will offer weekend hours for specialty clinics for flu and other vaccines.

New facility will have more staff and diverse staff

When committee members asked about staff diversity, Sisney said the facility has three physicians who are persons of color, including the office manager. She added that Children's plans to add more physicians in due time.

“I think we have been successful in that community because we have a clinic that does represent the community,” she said.

Committee chair Johonna Duckworth stressed the importance of maintaining staff levels and ensuring quality of care. She noted the level of care of some medical providers in the Black community is lacking, with patients facing long wait times. She said the same level of care and attentiveness should exist on Milwaukee's northwest side as it does in other affluent suburbs.

“We don't want a different standard of care in our community or with the level of service that we receive,” Duckworth said, adding that it's still wonderful that the clinic is expanding in this community.

Sisney assured committee members all the hospital’s urgent centers maintain a standard of care protocol. She said, no matter what clinic parents visit, whether it's in Mequon or the new Good Hope facility, their child will get the same care. But Sisney noted that this facility is a walk-in clinic, which can impact wait times.

“We don't have control of how many families come in at a time,” Sisney said, “but all of the patients are triaged upon coming into the clinic so their illness is assessed and the level of care is determined so that we make sure we are providing great customer service.”

As a mother with a child with health challenges, committee member Tasha Dotson said having a facility nearby is a better option than driving to Mequon or Brookfield.

“I’m just happy about it,” she said.

More: Development at site next to Uihlein Soccer Park could help bring indoor sports facility

New facility to be built next to Uihlein Soccer Park

Construction of the facility would begin in spring 2024. The developer is in the process of buying the 18.2-acre site owned by the county. The county leases the land to the Milwaukee Kickers, which uses part of the site for event parking for Uihlein Soccer Park.

The property will be split into two parcels. As part of the purchase, Weas Development would give 15.9 acres back to the soccer club and pave the now-gravel lot to provide 200 parking stalls.

The remaining 2.3 acres will house the health facility and include about 100 parking stalls designated for Children’s Wisconsin.

The city’s Plan Commission will hold a public hearing at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 21 at 809 N. Broadway for the project. A Common Council Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee hearing is set for Sept. 12 to rezone the clinic’s portion of the site from light industrial to commercial, followed by a Common Council vote Sept. 19.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Children’s Wisconsin plans to open urgent care center in Milwaukee