Aspirus gets help from volunteers
ONTONAGON — The hospital will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2018. Once called Ontonagon Memorial Hospital and owned by the village, it is now a part of the Wausau, Wisconsin-based Aspirus.
The hospital is going through an expansion to its Emergency Department. This is the first addition to the hospital since it opened in 1968. The expansion includes a new walk-in patient entrance vestibule and drop off canopy. A new ambulance canopy and patient entrance. The family waiting, reception. And triage has been remodeled and enlarged. This area is also separated from the treatment area.
The expansion includes three exam and treatment rooms, a patient restroom, provider work stations, and storage. A new heating and cooling system that is dedicated to the Emergency Department is also included in the expansion.
“p1″>While the majority of this expansion is an investment made by the non-profit Aspirus system, it is the volunteers of the Aspirus Ontonagon Hospital Foundation (AOHF) that currently is conducting a fund raising project to expand the canopy over the new Emergency Department, ‘to cover the main entrance to the hospital,” according to Dr. Kirk Schott. Schott is one of the members of the AOHF.
The Foundation conducts two major fund raising activities during the year. One is the annual Golf Tournament that takes place in July. The other is the up-coming Christmas Concert that is held at the Ontonagon Theatre of Performing Arts. The funds raised enable the hospital to add services and equipment. Foundation President, Jim Jessup states, “none of this is possible without the generous support of the community.
It was at last night’s Ontonagon Village Recreation Committee meeting that Ontonagon Village Manager Joe Erickson stated that the vacant lot next to the Aspirus Fitness Center has been offered by Aspirus to the Village to be a ‘pocket park.’ The property would be leased to the Village in lieu of a $100.00 donation to the Foundation. While no action was taken at last night’s Recreation Committee meeting, this offer from Aspirus will be formally presented to the Ontonagon Village Council.
It was at this past Monday Night’s Village Council meeting that the Municipal Employee Retirement System (MERS) pension plan for past hospital employees was brought up. This was a part of the recent Village audit. It was agreed upon at the transfer of the hospital from the Village to Aspirus, the Village would be responsible for $3,881,842 of the pension liability for hospital employees. “Otherwise there would be no hospital in Ontonagon,” Erickson commented.
Aspirus Ontonagon is the largest employer in Ontonagon County. They have 154 employees. In 2012 the hospital admitted more than 209 patients and treated 2,644 patients with emergency medical services. The hospital had more than 16,000 outpatient visits.
“p1″>”We now have an Oncology Clinic which enables cancer patients to receive care at home rather than traveling hundreds of miles. Most recently we have added a Cardiology Clinic and a board certified cardiologist,” said AOHF volunteer member, Bill Wood.
No one from Aspirus Ontonagon, or Aspirus offices in Wausau responded to numerous requests from the Daily Mining Gazette as to the expansion or the work being done by the volunteers of the Foundation.