About Oconomowoc Memorial Hospital 50 Years Young

Although the community is helping Oconomowoc Memorial celebrate it?s 50th birthday this year, our facilities are far from middle-aged. In fact, the accounting world classifies our facility as a 7-year-old! A history of prudent management combined with visionary planning has made the community?s investment in this hospital a wise one. By constantly updating technology and facilities, OMH has brought state-of-the-art health care close to home for thousands of patients each year. More than $50 million has been invested since 1997 to make this one of the most sophisticated community hospitals of its size in the nation. Some recent additions, upgrades and enhancements include: New Regional Cancer Center wing in 2000

New cardiac cath lab and cardiac rehab space in 2002

Digital diagnostics

New medical office building

Development of a high-acuity newborn nursery

Updates in outpatient testing and surgery, a comprehensive pain clinic, gastro-intestinal specialties, and OB/gyn areas Not all of these enhancements may be noticeable as you drive by, but they are making a difference to the patients who need them. These smart building decisions reflect our philosophy that, when it comes to health care, we don?t have money to waste. It is far less expensive and wiser to invest in improving and expanding existing infrastructure than building anew.

Impressive, Advanced Services
OMH has capabilities only a fraction of other hospitals nationally have.

The Regional Cancer Center is a good example. Treatments and equipment available here are more often found in academic medical centers -- in very few community hospitals. We?re also outstanding in cancer research. The national average is for hospitals to have 2 percent of patients involved in research studies, yet we have four times that. Regional Cancer Center at OMH and WMH was the first in the Midwest to receive network accreditation by the American College of Surgeons.

Extraordinary heart care is close to home. OMH is one of only 5 percent of hospitals its size in the nation offering angioplasty procedures on site and one of 15 percent with a cardiac catheterization laboratory. OMH?s sister hospital, Waukesha Memorial, a national leader in "beating heart" surgery, is just a 20-minute ambulance ride away should surgical back-up be required.

Our Emergency Department has earned top marks. Open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, fully staffed by board certified emergency medicine physicians, the OMH Emergency Department consistently ranks in the 99th percentile in patient satisfaction among hospitals across the nation. National health care consultants named OMH?s Emergency Department (lias an example of ?Best Practice? with shortest times from patient arrival to the time seen by physician and the treatment complete. Our physicians have access to the latest lifesaving technology, including emergency angioplasty for heart attack victims. Most local EMS volunteers count on OMH?s emergency physicians for medical oversight of their operations. Click here for a virtual tour of the department.

OMH?s Birthing Center is a family legacy. With a record 731 births last year, OMH?s Birthing Center offers highly trained obstetrical nurses, richly appointed birthing rooms and an infant security system. Families appreciate the fact that one nurse is dedicated to care for them after delivery. A maternal and neonatal transport system quickly and seamlessly links OMH?s Birthing Center to the county?s first and largest Level III Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Waukesha Memorial.

Our Women?s Center was named the most comprehensive women?s health program in the nation in 2001 by the National Association for Women?s Health. In addition to the Birthing Center, special programs for women include incontinence, heart disease, midlife health screenings and more.

Imaging services are filmless and all digital. State-of-the-art diagnostic imaging capabilities at OMH include MRI, CT, and a PACS system with digital images that doctors can access from any computer and that patients can take with them on CD-ROM. OMH?s Center for Breast Care has all-digital mammography imaging and immediate results.

We use electronic medical records to keep your patient records completely up to date. Soon, your doctors in the community can access these secure records, too, with your permission, so that they can reference your most recent medical records, test results and medications, as appropriate, when making decisions about your care. In August 2004, physicians at OMH will start using wireless notebooks computers when they see patients. Having their patients? record at their fingertips gives physicians access to critical information that allows them to make the best decisions regarding medications and other aspects of care.

Patient meals are made to order. The hospital?s Pine Lake Café makes every effort to delight patient taste buds. The Café staff will deliver a nutritious and delicious meal within 30 minutes of the order. Even patients on special diets can enjoy variety and appeal in the selections they order. Guests may also order room service for a small charge.

We have ample space to care for patients. OMH has 74 private rooms with private baths and individual temperature controls. Of those beds, 43 are for medical/surgical patients, eight are birthing center rooms, five are private rooms for gynecology patients, five are pediatrics rooms, and 12 are intensive care unit rooms with 24-hour patient monitoring.

Intertwined with the Community Even with a lot of state-of-the-art medical technology, OMH is still very much a community hospital.

We employ 900 local residents.

We have a community-based board of directors who make sure all hospital decisions are in the best interest of the people in the community. In fact, we are part of the last remaining community hospital system in Southeastern Wisconsin that is controlled by local community members, including more than 70 local leaders who are involved on hospital committees and the board of directors.

We give back to the community. Oconomowoc Memorial?s Parish Nurse Program partners with four local churches to support hundreds of individuals by providing information, home visits, blood pressure checks, and referrals to physicians and community resources.

Through Oconomowoc Memorial Hospital?s Hispanic Breast and Cervical Cancer Outreach effort, in partnership with the Komen Foundation and Wisconsin Well Women Program, our Hispanic outreach professional works to increase breast and cervical cancer early detection among the growing Hispanic population.