Ascension Wisconsin is approaching the midway point of renovations that will make the St. Francis Hospital on Milwaukee’s south side a centralized behavioral health hub.
The $10 million project, which are being funding privately by Ascension, are tied to the organization’s mission to care for the most vulnerable in the community, St. Francis Hospital President Jonathon Matuszewski told the Milwaukee Business Journal.
The renovated unit will add 26 adult rooms and 10 adolescent rooms, totaling 61 available beds for inpatient behavioral health patients at the hospital, Matuszewski said.
The floor will include separate adult and adolescent wings with shared space in between. Both areas will include large, open-concept community and dining spaces with an open nursing station and an enclosed station behind. The two areas will also have group therapy rooms and activity space. There also will be a family waiting area and staff offices on the floor.
JP Cullen is the general contractor for the project, and EUA is the architect and designer. The design of the unit will include calming colors and floral designs, tying in the neighborhood’s history as Milwaukee’s Garden District. “We wanted to bring nature back in for comfort.” EUA Senior Project Manager Melissa Rudolph told the Business Journal. “We wanted the space to feel like home for the patients.”
The new space will consolidate inpatient units from Ascension’s Columbia St. Mary’s campus in Mequon and it’s All-Saints Hospital in Racine. Outpatient units will remain as is. “Being able to centralize (the units) into a central core and have a center of excellence allows us to really maximize our resources and provide better resources and better programmatic.” Matuszewski said.
The expanded space will add more than 50 staff positions, including roles filled by consolidating staff. These positions include psychiatrists, therapists, nurses, behavioral health techs, social workers, case managers and more. Ascension St. Francis Hospital will continue to provide additional inpatient and outpatient health services and operate its emergency room and operating rooms.
Please find the original story published by Logan Hanson and the Milwaukee Business Journal here: https://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2026/03/26/ascension-st-francis-behavioral-health-renovations.html?csrc=6398&link_source=ta_first_comment&taid=69c5e4bd14f1fb0001279fe2&utm_campaign=trueAnthemTrendingContent&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook
