W A S H B U R N C O U N T Y
Wednesday, March 18, 2015 Vol. 126, No. 31 • Shell Lake, Wis.
Register
We e ke nd w atch
• 4-H play @ Barronett • Film series @ Shell Lake • Beach family benefit @ Spooner See calendar on page 6 for details
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INSIDE
March 18, 2015
Sure sign of spring
75¢
County to utilize CodeRED Page 3
Fourthgraders showcase talent Page 2
4-H flashback Page 8
With the warmer temperatures and melting snow, the Shell Lake residents on Eighth Avenue are dealing with a muddy road. Their nightmare should come to an end when the construction of the road is finished this summer. — Photo by Larry Samson
A glimpse of the new Spooner hospital
Laker wrestlers honored Page 9
BREAKERS
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NORTHWEST WISCONSIN - The Department of Natural Resources has suspended burn permits in more than 20 counties in the northwestern and southern parts of the state - including Washburn County - because of dry conditions and strong winds. Trenton Marty, who directs the Bureau of Forest Protection for the DNR, said it’s early for central and northwestern Wisconsin to already be experiencing this degree of risk. Marty said a lack of snow cover statewide is a factor. “Typically, here in the south, as soon as the snow’s gone — that’s generally in mid-March or so — we generally see a rise in fire danger because of the grass fuels down here and stuff. But having central and northwest Wisconsin involved this early in the season is quite unusual,” said Marty. Marty said the suspension shouldn’t last long. He said cooler temperatures are expected later this week. - Breann Schossow, WPR News
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This is a rendition of what the Spooner Health System’s new hospital may look like once complete. The projected open date for the facility is May 2016. — Image from SHS
Danielle H. Moe | Staff writer SPOONER — “It is amazing what this building is going to allow us to do that we possibly couldn’t do currently,” said Mike Schafer, CEO of Spooner Health System. Last fall, ground was broken on the future location of the Spooner Health System’s hospital, a move that began back in 2006 when Spooner Health System identified the need for additional space in the current hospital. “We didn’t go into this, even in early 2012, that we were going to build a new hospital. We were looking at what we could do on-site,” said Schafer. On-site needs included more space in the emergency, outpatient and therapy services area. The cost to remodel the current hospital was figured to be about $18 million but the limited space became a stumbling block. That’s when they turned to the option of building a
new facility. After comparing the two options, it was decided that the opportunities a new facility held were worth the $28 million cost. “This isn’t about a new building, it’s really about the care and services we will be able to offer and the fact that we can’t offer them at the level we need to in our current building. We just outgrew it,” he said. The 57 acres of land, located about two miles north of the current hospital on CTH H near the county highway department, was purchased from the city of Spooner for the new hospital. SHS hired Market and Johnson of Eau Claire to build it and BWBR Architects of the Twin Cities to design it. “We designed the building so the outpatient clinic is adjacent to the ER which will allow us to flex this space and use it for the less-emergent ER patients, like those with sore throats, earSee Hospital, page 10
T h e Reg i st e r i s a co o p e rat i ve - o w n e d n ews pa per