By Jeff Bollier for The Northwestern
The only thing more impressive than their new Witzel Avenue home is the work Dr. David Janssen and Dr. William Doubek do for their patients.
“Thank you” notes cover the walls of Janssen’s office in Fox Valley Plastic Surgery’s new home at 2400 Witzel Ave., but these are not for “boob jobs” and “tummy tucks,” Janssen explains.
“We take care of people in a time of major transition in their lives: They’ve lost a breast, lost a spouse, they’re recovering from cancer, suffered a major injury,” Janssen said. “People think of plastic surgery as vanity. It’s not just about perfection, but about wholeness.”
Even without the therapeutic benefits, the Center has created quite a buzz in Oshkosh with unique features ranging from a heated, private garage to quality customer service to the city’s first underground stormwater detention system to a copy of Michelangelo’s “Creation of Man” to interior stone imported from Italy to the stucco exterior with red barrel roofing tiles to comfortable examination and MediSpa treatment rooms. An open house and ribbon cutting drew 1,200 visitors last weekend not to mention the dozens of people who just stopped by for a quick look in the months the project was under construction, said spokesperson Kathy Fredrickson.
University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Professor of Geography and Urban Planning Michael Burayidi said the building’s attention to detail, efforts to stand out against other recent developments along Witzel Avenue and throughout the city and to marry its form with the activities happening inside represent a departure from the norm in modern architecture.
“Post-modern architecture like this started after the 1960s when architects realized modern architecture wasn’t appealing, that their buildings were bland,” Burayidi said. “My hope is that this new center will start a revolution of architecture in Oshkosh so that other developers see it as a good example of what they should aspire to when they build. We really need to move away from the bland architecture that’s so common not only in Oshkosh, but throughout the country.”
Janssen and Doubek perform a variety of services that include basic plastic surgery for moles and bumps, cosmetic surgery, traumatic and elective hand surgery, aesthetics for facial care and, soon, a revolutionary surgery that adjusts the tightness of the muscles over the skull in order to reduce or eliminate migraine headaches, Janssen said.
Janssen and Doubek founded Fox Valley Plastic Surgery in 1993 and since then have seen more than 25,000 patients. But last year as they realized their lease with Mercy Medical Center would expire at the end of this year, they started to think about what they would want in their own offices and surgery center.
“You can never avoid all the problems, but we can avoid many of the obvious ones,” Janssen said. “There’s always the thought in the back of your mind about that last office you’ll have, the place where we would finish our careers. It has turned out exactly the way we wanted it to.”
The business is not just a regional draw. Patients from the rest of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa have made the trek to Oshkosh for corrective procedures, plastic surgery and other operations.
“There are many days when no one we treat is from Wisconsin,” Janssen said. “This is not just an Oshkosh business.”
Fredrickson added that the regional draw and the building’s expansion means economic growth for Oshkosh as well. She noted the business has 25 employees at the new office and that the center has agreements with hotels and other businesses in town to ensure patients, family members and friends have places to stay before or after surgical procedures
Jeff Bollier writes for the The Northwestern.
Oshkosh, WI (920) 233-1540