Waseca hospital expansion project holds groundbreaking ceremony
Jun. 25—With a $755,000 donation in tow, Waseca hospital leaders ceremonially broke ground on a major expansion and renovation project Friday.
The Legacy of Angels Foundation, established by the Rosenau family in 2008, donated the sum to support Mayo Clinic Health System's plans for the campus. The $4.2 million project will add a new wing of exam and treatment rooms, a new ambulance garage and more upgrades to the hospital's emergency department.
Once completed, the investment will benefit the Waseca community for the next 40 to 50 years, said Dr. Martin Herrmann, the health system's medical director in Waseca.
"This is going to produce an environment for the next several generations of Wasecans to have state-of-the-art facilities to really enhance the care we provide," he said.
Staff and leadership were elated to get the project started, he added. It's been in the works for four years, including hurdles brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hospital leaders first set out to add an ambulance garage about four years ago. As they looked into the project, additional needs arose to keep up with rising patient volumes, said Tammy Baker, a physician assistant in Waseca.
"We're beyond excited to see this project come to fruition," she said. "We've been working on this for the past several years."
The hospital's current emergency department entrance requires ambulances to load and unload patients in the elements, regardless of whether it's snowing, raining or sleeting. Renovations will address that while offering a more discrete entrance and exit for patients.
The three priorities for the project, said emergency department director Dr. Hanxiang (Alex) A. Wang, include increasing the emergency department's capacity, improving entry points for patients and vehicles and modernizing and enhancing patient and family experiences on the campus.
The project's first phase will focus on building the new treatment wing. Phase two construction will remodel existing space.
Construction will begin in earnest later this summer ahead of a summer 2023 completion.
The Legacy of Angels Foundation came about after Paul and Susan Rosenau lost their first grandchild, Makayla, to Krabbe disease in 2008. Paul had a winning Powerball ticket announced on the fifth anniversary of Makayla's death, according to a release from Mayo Clinic Health System.
Since then, the foundation has been a benefactor for Mayo Clinic's cancer and treatment research. A waiting room in Waseca is named after the Rosenau family.
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