A physician with seven years experience at Sixteenth Street Community Health Center is opening a private pediatric practice on South 27th street to serve the growing number of Spanish-speaking residents in that area.
Dr. Sandra Arce-Garzon, 39, is leasing 1,925 square feet of space at 4220 S. 27th St., and plans to open the office in early April.
While many private practice physicians have become employed by large health care systems in recent years for more stability, Arce-Garzon said it has been her dream to run her own practice.
“I know it’s a challenge, but because I have already built a reputation and will be in an area where there is a need for a Spanish-speaking doctor, I think we can succeed,” Arce-Garzon said. “And, I wanted to be my own boss.”
Arce-Garzon, who grew up in Colombia and completed her residency at Cook County Hospital (now John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County) in Chicago, said she had about 2,000 patients when she left Sixteenth Street.
About 85 percent of those patients were Spanish-speaking.
Arce-Garzon’s clinic will have six exam rooms and be open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and every other Saturday. She is affiliated with Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital and Wheaton Franciscan-St. Francis Hospital.
She will work with a medical assistant and receptionist. Her husband, David, will serve as the business manager.
Sean Beuche, a broker with Judson & Associates, a Pewaukee real estate firm, who completed the deal for Arce-Garzon, believes the clinic will be a welcome addition to the neighborhood.
“The clinic is smack-dab in the heart of Milwaukee’s Hispanic community and there is an underserved population there that is really reaching out for someone like Sandra,” Beuche said. “We worked for about a year to get the deal done. It took some time, but at the end of the day, this was probably the best space out there for them.”
Corrinne Hess covers health care and education for The Business Journal.
