Carroll University and St. Joseph’s Medical Clinic will partner to open a new academic and clinic facility in downtown Waukesha.
The university said it has purchased the 9,000-square-foot building at 237 Wisconsin Ave. for the partnership, which the organizations said will give students hands-on experience working with patients, while also expanding the clinic’s capacity to serve Waukesha’s uninsured population.
Carroll will occupy the main floor and lower level and St. Joseph’s Medical Clinic will lease the top floor of the building. It will replace the clinic’s current location at 826 N. East Ave.
The Wisconsin Avenue building was formerly occupied by the Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin Central Waukesha Health Clinic, a private practice of Dr. Robert Beaumont that closed in 2018.
Faculty and students from Carroll’s physician assistant programs will provide medical services at the clinic. Carroll’s Health Sciences department will also offer new programming at the facility, with a focus on long-term health and wellness, the university said.
The university’s nursing, occupational therapy and public health programs plan to add integrative health and health literacy services, well-child visits, prenatal programming, handwriting clinics and community health education, a dementia-care training center and a health and wellness program for people suffering with chronic conditions.
“This ties in well with our Christian mission to prepare students for vocational success and to provide service in our diverse community,” said Tom Pahnke, dean of the College of Health and Sciences. “It’s a great opportunity to partner with St. Joseph’s and have additional space for our academic programs. This endeavor allows our faculty and students to offer health and wellness services for Waukesha’s underserved and underinsured populations, while also educating our future health care providers in a culturally sensitive manner.”
Carroll currently offers a twice-weekly free Therapeutic Abilities Clinic on its campus, which serves about 30 uninsured patients and is staffed by faculty-supervised physical therapy students.
Kathy Becker, executive director of St. Joseph’s Medical Clinic, said the partnership could allow the clinic to expand its services to five days a week. Currently, it serves patients three days a week.
“This could be a really powerful partnership,” Becker said. “It provides students with education while providing service to the community.”
The clinic has more than 50 volunteers who serve 566 patients annually.
“We serve a lot of people but we’d like to increase that,” Becker said. “Physician assistant students already have skills and could take patient histories, which could free up health providers to see more patients.”
The organizations expect to complete renovations before opening the facility next year.
