Upland Hills Health Breaks Ground for Improvements

Friday, June 29, 2018

 

Groundbreaking at Upland Hills Health hospital in Dodgeville (l to r) UHH Board Member: Deb Ivey; State Senator: Howard Marklein; USDA Rural Development Staff: Frank Frassetto and Jillian Thomas; UHH President: Lisa Schnedler; Chief of Medical Staff: Dr. Peter Mullin; UHH Board Members: Jody Vanderloo and Dr. Kathy Dalsing; UHH VP of Finance: Karl Pustina; UHH Board Members: Ted Greenheck and John Thronson; UHH Facilities Director: Ryan Teasdale; Kahler Slater Architects: Dave Sheedy, Andrea Day and Joe Schultz.

The Dodgeville hospital, Upland Hills Health (UHH), is one-step closer to starting construction on a new central building that will connect and modernize critical care areas of the facility. A groundbreaking ceremony was held at the construction site on Friday, June 29, 2018.

UHH President Lisa Schnedler welcomed attendees to the celebration and took time to thank volunteers, physicians, all UHH health providers, the UHH Foundation Board and Board of Trustees and UHH staff. “As excited as we are to make this an excellent building, the thing that makes this a fabulous, caring hospital is the team that is standing around you today. 

This building project is being driven by several key objectives: to continue offering state-of-the-art healthcare for this generation and the next, to provide a great patient and family experience, every time you are here; to surpass your customer service and quality expectations; and to exceed expectations for safety and security.

The new building will help us achieve these goals by providing new birthing units, surgical suites and recovery area and updated patient rooms which will be private, larger and more comfortable with the latest equipment.”

Schnedler introduced Upland Hills Health’s Board of Trustees Chair, Jody Vanderloo, who whole-heartedly endorsed the building project. Vanderloo stated, “This marks another significant chapter in the history of Upland Hills Health. Personally, I am proud of the important role this hospital plays in our community and the way it has remained strong and vital over the years. At times this wasn’t easy, but we’ve endured and an important part of our ability to remain strong and local has been the partnership with our community.”

Vanderloo continued, “Already, there is a real sense of common purpose with the people I talk to who know how important our hospital is because of the care it provides, and because of the strong role it plays in our local economy.”

Among those spotlighted for appreciation and recognition were representatives from Kahler Slater Architectural firm; Findorff Builders; Ryan Teasdale, UHH Facilities Director; Karl Pustina, UHH VP of Finance and USDA Rural Development Staff.

Frank Frassetto, USDA Rural Development State Director spoke for a moment to underscore USDA support for this project. He described the agency’s commitment to rural communities. “At USDA we are a government agency, but I look at us as a service organization and our primary goal is to be the best at customer service that we can be. We are focused on rural infrastructure and rural partnerships because we realize that it takes many partners to come together to meet the needs of our rural communities. We’re committed to the future of rural communities and we will be there to help you as you continue to grow and build resiliency.”

Former UHH Administrator, Phyllis Fritsch, was also recognized for her contribution to the success of the hospital. Schnedler stated, “You build on the work of the people who came before you, and Phyllis, this is your day, too.”

Special guests included Tawsif Anam, Regional Director with Senator Ron Johnson’s office, and State Senator Howard Marklein. Senator Marklein explained his support for the project, “It’s an exciting day! Investments like this will pay back for years and years. The minute we quit investing in facilities like this is the minute they start declining. It becomes more difficult to attract patients. It becomes more difficult to recruit physicians. My compliments to everyone involved in this decision.”

Schnedler concluded by pledging that UHH staff would try very hard to minimize the inconvenience caused by the construction. She asked for continued patience in the coming months and reminded attendees that these construction months will end and the result will be much better for everyone.