Agnesian HealthCare, having completed a strategic plan, identified an opportunity to increase its market share by expanding its outpatient surgical services. Agnesian HealthCare’s Fond du Lac Surgery Center provides outpatient surgical procedures and also houses a clinic and physicians’ office.

The facility was designed to segregate functions through clever adaptation of site elevation. The two-story south front of the building has a patient drop-off area that serves as a “front door” to the surgery center. On the east side of the building, a drive-through canopy covers a patient discharge/pickup area. The single-story north façade of the building is the front door to the second-floor clinic spaces. The new facility facilitates timely and efficient, same-day surgical care.

Physicians who relocated from the main Agnesian HealthCare campus are located above the surgery center. The building also houses Agnesian HealthCare’s Sports, Spine & Work Center—adjacent to the orthopedic surgeons. This location provides improved access for patients needing outpatient physical therapy services or orthopedic care and follow-up.


The center meets the needs of a growing community, with an increasing elderly population likely to require increased healthcare services in the future. Agnesian HealthCare is committed to providing patients with state-of-the-art medical services and upholding its pledge for excellence.


Project category: New construction (completed June 2006)

Chief administrator: Barbara Knutzen, Vice-President of Ambulatory Services, (920) 926-5407

Firm: Zimmerman Architectural Studios, Inc., (414) 918-1476

Design team: David Stroik, AIA, Principal-in-Charge; Steve Bach, AIA, Senior Designer; Jeff Mathews, AIA, Project Architect, Interior Medical Planning and Architecture; Lisa Jansen, ASID, Interior Designer (Zimmerman Architectural Studios, Inc.); Tom Baker, Jr., Construction/General Contractor/CM/Cost Estimation (CD Smith); Conrad Ettmayer, PE, Engineering Principal-in-Charge (Harwood Engineering Consultants, LLC)

Photography: Greg Gent Studios, 2006

Total building area (sq. ft.): 53,239

Construction cost/sq. ft.: $172

Total construction cost (excluding land): $9,153,000