DULUTH — As the second phase of Aspirus St. Luke’s Health Forward Initiative comes to a close, the project will soon enter its third and final phase. Dr.
Nick Van Deelen, president of Aspirus Minnesota Region, provided an update on the second phase of the campus redevelopment and expansion project during the Downtown Duluth organization’s luncheon Thursday at The Garden in Canal Park. “I've been so fortunate to spend my professional career in this community, and most of that has been taking care of patients in the emergency department, and that is just a great opportunity to get to know your neighbors and to really understand the joys and the challenges that surround us,” said Van Deelen, who preceded Eric Lohn as president of the health system in March. Van Deelen previously served as St.
Luke’s chief medical officer. ADVERTISEMENT Earlier this year, St. Luke's completed its merger with the Wausau-based Aspirus Health.
During the affiliation process, the health system also began work on the second phase of its Health Forward Initiative. “We, as Aspirus, will be investing $300 million over eight years,” Van Deelen said. “That's capital investment.
That's aside from all of the operational money that will be flooded into our system or our region.” An $81 million investment, Phase 2 included the addition of three stories to Building A. This expanded its critical care space with 28 intensive care unit beds and 33 coronary intensive care beds, as well as over 6.