IMMEDIATE ADOPTION
Number
180034
Version
ORIGINAL
Reference
Sponsor
ALD. RAINEY, MURPHY, DONOVAN, BAUMAN, ZIELINSKI, BOHL, BORKOWSKI, KOVAC, LEWIS, JOHNSON, WITKOWSKI, PEREZ AND STAMPER
Title
Resolution urging Ascension Wisconsin to reconsider its plans to reduce its services in the City of Milwaukee.
Analysis
This resolution urges Ascension Wisconsin to reconsider its plans to reduce its services in the City of Milwaukee and to establish a one-year moratorium on any downsizing and service reductions at Wheaton Franciscan - St. Joseph Campus and other Milwaukee healthcare facilities. During that time, Ascension Wisconsin is urged to work with community leaders, elected officials and other local stakeholders to find alternatives to service reductions and ways to preserve healthcare services for Milwaukee residents, particularly in economically distressed areas of the city.
Body
Whereas, Ascension is a faith-based healthcare organization, and the largest non-profit healthcare system in the United States, with a healthcare division that operates more than 2,600 sites of care, including 153 hospitals and more than 50 senior living facilities, in 22 states and the District of Columbia; and
Whereas, Ascension Wisconsin operates 23 hospitals, including Columbia St. Mary’s facilities and, since 2016, Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare facilities; and
Whereas, Ascension Wisconsin operates Wheaton Franciscan - St. Joseph Campus, more commonly known as St. Joseph’s, which has been an important healthcare provider in Milwaukee for over 130 years; and
Whereas, St. Joseph’s provides emergency, obstetric, cardiac, critical care, surgical and physical rehabilitation services to residents in Milwaukee’s St. Joseph’s and Sherman Park neighborhoods and beyond; and
Whereas, Ascension Wisconsin recently announced plans to eliminate certain medical and surgical services at St. Joseph’s; and
Whereas, The planned elimination of services at St. Joseph’s leaves no general acute care hospital north of downtown Milwaukee, and will force patients and families to travel further to obtain necessary healthcare services; and
Whereas, Ascension Wisconsin also operates Wheaton Franciscan - St. Francis, a hospital on Milwaukee’s South Side, and is reportedly considering service reductions at that location as well; and
Whereas, Both St. Joseph’s and St. Francis hospitals are critical, frontline care institutions in Milwaukee neighborhoods, and any service reductions would be devastating to local residents and harmful to the city in general; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, By the Common Council of the City of Milwaukee, that Ascension Wisconsin is urged to reconsider its plans to reduce its services in the City of Milwaukee; and, be it
Further Resolved, That Ascension Wisconsin is urged to establish a one-year moratorium on any downsizing and service reductions at Wheaton Franciscan - St. Joseph Campus, Wheaton Franciscan - St. Francis and other Ascension healthcare facilities in Milwaukee; and, be it
Further Resolved, That during the one-year moratorium, Ascension Wisconsin is urged to work with community leaders, elected officials, and other local stakeholders to find alternatives to service reductions at Milwaukee healthcare facilities and ways to preserve healthcare services for Milwaukee residents, particularly in economically distressed areas of the city.
Requestor
Drafter
LRB171140-1
Dana J. Zelazny
April 16, 2018