MUKWONAGO - ProHealth Care has announced plans to add 56 hospital inpatient rooms and an emergency department at its existing campus here.

The future hospital is expected to serve patients in southern Waukesha County, northern Walworth County and northwestern Racine County.

Though still in the design phase, the project is estimated to cost in the range of $75-90 million.

The hospital will include a full-service emergency department, surgery center, intensive care unit, cardiac catheterization lab, cancer center and professional office building.

"The hospital is being built in response to a need for its services in the community, just like ProHealth Care's two existing hospitals were," Ford Titus, chief executive officer of ProHealth Care, stated in a news release.

The company cited three factors for its decision:

1. Many people from the area go to Waukesha Memorial for emergency and inpatient care and will be able to receive hospital care closer to home.

2. Population growth projections indicate the area will grow by 12 percent by 2017.

3. There has been a high demand for services at Waukesha Memorial Hospital's outpatient center in Mukwonago, which shows that residents prefer to receive care closer to home.

ProHealth Care said the project will cost less than it would to expand Waukesha Memorial to accommodate current and anticipated inpatient bed need for patients in the Mukwonago region.

The emergency department is expected to handle approximately 11,560 emergency visits in its first year of operation.

Construction is expected to begin in 2009 and will take 18-24 months to complete.