Members of the Kenosha City Council decried recent cuts in the hours a Downtown urgent care center is open.
Several spoke about the change during the alderpersons comment portion of the Wednesday night City Council meeting.
Froedtert’s Kenosha Urgent Care Center, located at 6308 Eighth Ave., is now only open from 7 am to 7 pm daily for people facing conditions such as minor burns, sprains, simple puncture wounds and ear infections.
Daniel Gaitan
The Froedtert Kenosha Urgent Care Center, located at 6308 Eighth Ave., is now open from 7 am to 7 pm daily. It is designed to assist people with conditions such as minor burns, sprains, simple puncture wounds and ear infections. The center, at the former Froedtert Kenosha Hospital site, will not accept patients outside of those hours.
Froedtert converted the hospital’s emergency department into the urgent care clinic Oct. 1, and at the time said it would be a 24/7 operation.
The hospital’s inpatient services and emergency department services were transitioned to Froedtert Pleasant Prairie Hospital, 9555 76th St., in a continuation of repositioning efforts to centralize the surgical and interventional services that began in 2019.
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On Tuesday, Froedtert South President and CEO Ric Schmidt said the urgent care center was not caring for enough patients to justify its overnight hours.
“We just don’t have any volume from 7 pm to 7 am,” Schmidt said. “There just aren’t enough immediate care and urgent care patients to justify keeping it open from 7 pm to 7 am That’s what we’re balancing right now.”
He also said Froedtert is open to readjusting hours to “whatever volume there is” if needed.
Some council members were upset with the changes less than four months after the closure of the emergency department.
Ald. Jan Michalski said he’s deeply disappointed.
“I was personally promised, and I know a number of you others were personally promised, that the walk-in clinic would be open 24/7, and that this would cause basically very little disruption to the public health of the people who live east of Green Bay Road. Well, they just broke that promise,” Michalski said.
Michalski said he, as “forcefully as I can” condemns this decision” in part because the majority of the city resides east of the interstate.
“Out of a matter of conscience, out of a matter of just public relations, out of a matter of doing the right thing, reverse this decision,” Michalski added.
He acknowledged the city has no power to force Freodert South to change its hours of operation.
Ald. Dominic Ruffalo expressed similar sentiments. “It’s sad, but it’s probably a business decision but it’s a poor business decision that doesn’t represent the City of Kenosha very well,” he said. “I thought they would come to this council and continue to talk to us but, no… Nothing. No word. silence I’m against this decision.”
‘Exasperated problem’
“The reduction in urgent care hours has exasperated an already growing problem created by the hospital when they shutdown the Downtown campus ER,” Ald. David Bogdala said in a statement. “This short-sided business decision taken by the hospital is putting patients, health care workers, and EMS employees’ lives in danger. We need the hospital leadership to work with all concerned parties to find a solution that takes all of these concerns into account to ensure the highest quality of care for all Kenosha residents.”
City Administrator John Morrissey said “it’s unfortunate the decision was made after such a short period of time after closing the ER.”
Morrissey said he also would have preferred the nonprofit hospital system to take more time to study the effect of cutting hours.
“I think this also has the potential to overwhelm the ER departments at both Froedtert South Pleasant Prairie and Aurora with non-urgent patients, the ones who would go to urgent care filling up the ERs,” he added.
Morrissey also said it would have been “prudent” to engage with the community on the changes and the lack of communication only “exacerbates the mistrust from the hospital.”
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine held a moment of silence Tuesday for Buffalo defensive back Damar Hamlin after he collapsed following a tackle during the Monday Night Football game. Hamlin was in critical condition early Tuesday after the Bills say his heart stopped during the game, which was indefinitely postponed. Hamlin collapsed on the field during the first quarter of the nationally televised game against the Cincinnati Bengals and was given medical treatment for nearly 20 minutes before being taken to a hospital. The Bills said in a statement: “Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest following a hit in our game versus the Bengals. His heartbeat was restored on the field and he was transferred to the UC Medical Center for further testing and treatment. He is currently sedated and listed in critical condition.
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