Construction began last fall at Aurora Medical Center in Grafton on a 125,000-square-foot patient tower.
What's Inside the New Tower
The expansion is planned to add 84 private patient suites, according to Aurora Health Care, along with an expanded emergency department. Hospital officials said the completed project will expand access to high-quality, compassionate care for patients across southeast Wisconsin. Beyond the patient suites, the new tower is also set to include conference rooms and a coffee shop.
Gabrielle Finley-Hazle, president of Aurora Health Care, has discussed meeting the needs of Grafton's growing community. Carla LaFever celebrated approval of the expansion.
Conflicting Details on Size and Timeline
Exactly how big the new tower will be, and when it will be finished, depends on which source you check. Ozaukee Press described the addition as a five-story tower built onto the northeast corner of the hospital, with work expected to wrap up in the fall of 2027. Construction firm Boldt, however, describes the same project as a four-story patient tower with a penthouse. Aurora Health Care's own site says the 125,000-square-foot tower is expected to open in 2028.
Ozaukee Press reported that the emergency room renovation and expansion is part of the same project, and that officials said the work is being driven by increased demand for services. Boldt, the project's construction partner, describes the undertaking as focused on increasing patient capacity and expanding access to emergency and specialty care, noting that building next to an active hospital campus required careful coordination to keep operations running throughout construction. Part of that coordination work includes 66 prefabricated slide-in bathroom pods for the new suites, a detail Boldt highlights on its project page.
A Hospital That's Grown Before
This isn't the first time Aurora's Grafton campus has expanded. Back in 2021, the hospital pursued a far smaller, roughly $8 million modular project adding 16 observation beds and 24 employees, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. That 8,362-square-foot addition was built onto the west side of the hospital at 975 Port Washington Road. At the time, the facility spanned roughly 550,000 square feet with 132 licensed beds and six observation beds.
Today's Aurora Medical Center–Grafton already offers comprehensive heart care, women's health, cancer care, orthopedics, neurological care, and emergency care, along with a Level II neonatal intensive care unit. The hospital also runs a Hospital at Home program providing hospital-level care, monitoring and support for patients in their own homes. The facility received an A grade for patient safety from the Leapfrog Group in its fall 2024 report card and was named one of Wisconsin's top-ranked hospitals by U.S. News & World Report.
Ozaukee Press expects work to wrap up in fall 2027, while Aurora expects the tower to open in 2028.
