April 13, 2020 at 11:57 p.m.
Marshfield Clinic hospital opening delayed by COVID-19
Minocqua facility was set to open April 20
Marshfield Clinic hospital opening delayed by COVID-19
"Our first priority is to meet the needs of the community, and as such, we are collaborating with Ascension Howard Young Medical Center where appropriate," he said. "As we work to reallocate staffing and resources in anticipation of a patient surge, we've made the decision to temporarily delay the opening of our new hospital, which would require regulatory reviews not currently available to us. The timing of opening our facility will be based on several factors, such as the state of the COVID emergency, patient and community needs, availability of regulatory reviews and more."
As far as the immediate future, Dr. Michael Schaars, Marshfield Clinic's vice president of medical affairs, said Marshfield Clinic's plans "are changing daily, if not hourly as we prepare for the anticipated surge in COVID-19 patients."
"However, we are working closely with Howard Young to support them with staff and resources during this pandemic," he noted.
"Marshfield Clinic is participating in joint incident command calls with Ascension Northern Region (Woodruff, Eagle River, Rhinelander and Tomahawk) and frequent calls with local Ascension leadership to coordinate surge planning."
Schaars said shared employee agreements have been developed between Marshfield Clinic, Howard Young Medical Center and Ascension's St. Mary's Hospital in Eagle River which allows Marshfield Clinic hospital employees to provide patient care at those facilities.
This will allow Ascension to increase patient care capacity at both Howard Young and in Eagle River, he noted.
Construction of the new Marshfield Clinic hospital in Minocqua began in late 2018.
Schaars said construction remains on schedule for completion.
Brian Jopek may be reached via email at [email protected].
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