PRESS RELEASE – January 24, 2021
SECOND FISHER HOUSE IN WISCONSIN PLANNED FOR MADISON VA GROUNDS IN MADISON
Contact: Angie Christianson, Vice President, Fisher House Wisconsin Cell: 414-526-2210; Email achristianson@fisherhousewi.org
Contact: Christine Kleckner, Associate Director, William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital Hospital Phone Number: 608-280-7092
MILWAUKEE, WI, January 19th, 2021 – At the end of 2020, the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital was prioritized by VA Secretary Robert Wilkie as a future site for a Fisher House construction project.
A Fisher House is “a home away from home” for families of patients receiving medical care at major military and VA medical centers. Many families travel from long distances to receive care or to be with their loved ones during medical treatment. Families often face the burden of finding lodging while trying to be by the side of their hospitalized loved one. A Fisher House on the Madison VA campus or within proximity of the medical center would make lodging accommodations available and at no cost to guests.
“At the Fisher House, we treat our guests like family, and we work really hard to meet all their needs, so they can focus their attention on caring for their loved one.” said Angie Christianson, Fisher House Wisconsin Vice President and Fisher House volunteer. Fisher House is designed with the interactions of guests in mind and provides a home-like environment to help reduce the burden of being away from home.
Fisher House Wisconsin will collaborate with the staff at the Madison VA to help make the Fisher House a reality. “This is great news for Wisconsin and for the many Veterans and families that Fisher House will have the opportunity to support,” said Dirk Debbink, Fisher House Wisconsin President.
Timelines for construction will be contingent on land acquisition and other competing Fisher House Foundation project priorities. If this construction project moves forward to completion, this will make a total of two Fisher Houses in the State of Wisconsin. The first one opened in April of 2016 at the Clement J. Zablocki Veterans Hospital in Milwaukee. As the house approaches its five-year anniversary of its opening, more than 3,000 guests have found lodging at the house. “We look forward to working with the staff at William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital and replicating the amazing working relationship that we’ve enjoyed at the Milwaukee VA,” said Debbink.
Fisher House Wisconsin is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization which funds expenses associated with the construction and operation of Fisher Houses in Wisconsin. Fisher House currently provides a “home away from home” for families of patients receiving medical care at the Clement J Zablocki VA Medical Center in Milwaukee, WI.
For more information on Fisher House Wisconsin, go to www.fisherhousewi.org or www.facebook.com/fisherhousewi
For more information about the Madison VA Hospital, visit www.madison.va.gov or www.facebook.com/MadisonVAHospital