JOHNSON CREEK — Construction in Johnson Creek just keeps rolling along with excavation on the site of the eventual new home of the $2.5 million Three Oaks Health clinic.
The Three Oaks facility is planned for location on the large hillside to the west of The View of Johnson Creek assisted living center that overlooks The Gobbler Theater near the intersection of Watertown Street and Hartwig Boulevard. Excavation work began for the facility in recent days.
Three Oaks Health has had a quiet presence in Johnson Creek, in the mall near the Kwik Trip and Culver’s restaurant, at 480 Village Walk Lane, since 2017, according to Three Oaks’ head of business operations, Jackson Milford. Milford is the son of Three Oaks Health owner, Dr. Jim Milford.
Earlier this spring, a site-plan application for the new clinic was approved by the Johnson Creek Plan Commission. It calls for the construction of the two-story Three Oaks building. Milford said the second floor will measure 8,000 square feet, with the first containing 4,000 square feet.
“(This building is) for the purpose of a medical clinic and office, along with other tenant space, the construction of parking area consisting of 26 parking stalls, the required storm water management and facilities, and required landscaping,” the site plan stated.
Services at Three Oaks include adult medicine, women’s health, pediatric and adolescent medicine, geriatric care, dermatology services, minor surgery and urgent care.
Johnson Creek Village Administrator Brad Calder said the village board was pleased to hear of the clinic’s expansion. The clinic is based in Johnson Creek and Calder said the board is always pleased when a business wants to remain in Johnson Creek and even expand there.
“Our location between Madison and Milwaukee on the interstate, and between Watertown and Janesville on Highway 26, is prime for medical facilities — and for others, as well,” Calder said. “We are open to a wide variety of businesses.”
Jackson Milford said, ideally, the new facility will be built by early spring of 2023 and will be occupied almost immediately thereafter. Milford said, however, that the date for completion of the clinic is dependent on currently volatile supply chain issues, due, in part, to the pandemic.
Milford said his father and colleagues decided in 2021 that they should expand in Johnson Creek, which is their only location.
“We wanted to grow, and we needed space, and this was one of our only options,” Milford said of the new location that also overlooks the Johnson Creek Park and Ride and has a view of Interstate 94 to the north. “This will be good, although it hasn’t been a good time to build. Since 2017, however, we’ve grown, and the way to grow further is to get more space. We hope for success.”
Milford said his father’s clinic will certainly see staff growth as it moves from its former small digs to the east, to its new, more spacious location.
“We hired another (medical) provider last week and we will have triple the space we have now,” Milford said. “We will fill all this new space appropriately with providers. We will own the building and be the primary tenant.”
Milford said Three Oaks Health will sublease about 4,000 square feet on the first floor, but will occupy most of the second floor’s 8,000 square feet.
Milford said the expansion will allow for increased staff numbers and eventually, greater treatment offerings.
“Primary care and patient relations are what we do, but imaging and ancillary services are an option for the future,” he said, adding the clinic serves between 3,500 and 4,000 patients at present and it is hoped that this number could grow to double or triple that in the coming years. “It depends on the quality of providers we get. We want to stay true to how we started and to what we value.”
Milford said the growth the clinic has experienced in the past five years of operation reflects the satisfaction its clients and patients have with its services, and he hopes this can grow in the new, modern facility.
“I think this growth opportunity allows us to expand and share that with a bigger market, and we are excited for this,” he said. “Hopefully, we can just keep expanding.”
