After fight, new Wis. hospital advances

Aurora Health Care, Milwaukee, filed plans with Summit, Wis., to build a 110-bed hospital and medical office building there. The $189 million project, if approved by Summit authorities, would end the 12-hospital system’s long-running battle to build a hospital in Waukesha County, Wis., Aurora spokesman Jeff Squire said. Once Summit clears Aurora’s plan, the system will drop lawsuits against Oconomowoc, Wis., and Waukesha County, Squire said. Approval is expected by early March, he said. Aurora sued Oconomowoc in 2001 after its city council rezoned property to prevent the system from building an 88-bed hospital there. Aurora sought to build its hospital in adjacent Summit and sued Waukesha County, which includes both Oconomowoc and Summit, after failing to win zoning approval. Aurora won its case against Oconomowoc in May 2006. The city has the authority to rezone adjacent property and subsequently rezoned the property in Summit to allow the hospital project to go through there. -- by Melanie Evans