Aurora St. Luke's Medical Center in Milwaukee is installing the second-largest hyperbaric chamber in the nation.
The new chamber will triple the hospital's capacity to treat patients with hyperbaric oxygen therapy and improve its regional wound care services.
The 52-foot-long, 66-ton chamber will be able to treat up to 24 patients at one time.
The chamber was put into place today after being lifted by a huge crane and placed into the basement of St. Luke's through a 1,100-square-foot hole.
Hyperbaric chambers are primarily used to help treat difficult wounds, such as diabetic foot ulcers, but also are used for carbon monoxide poisoning and several other medical conditions. During hyperbaric treatment, patients breathe 100 percent oxygen in a pressurized chamber. The increased oxygen in the blood stimulates small blood vessel and skin growth and helps fight infection.
"This new chamber will allow us to continue to provide our patients with the most advanced, state-of-the-art technologies available in wound care," said Jeffrey Niezgoda, M.D., medical director of Aurora's Centers for Comprehensive Wound Care and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Program. "This new chamber will allow us to continue to attract patients from throughout the Midwest."
Jack Simanonok, M.D., another hyperbaric physician in the Aurora program, cited a growing need for hyperbaric therapy.
"The role of hyperbaric medicine is becoming increasingly important as the incidence of diabetes increases, the population ages and the number of chronic wounds exceeds 6 million yearly," Simanonok said. "There are currently 24 million diabetics in the U.S., approximately 8 percent of the population, and these patients are at significant risk for complications related to diabetic foot disease. Obesity and tobacco use also impact the body's ability to heal and may contribute to the development of chronic wounds."
The chamber was built in Queensland, Australia. It left Brisbane on a ship on Feb. 22 and arrived in Long Beach, Calif., on April 4. The chamber was then was loaded onto a trailer and trucked across the country to Milwaukee.
The new chamber is expected to be fully operational in August. Until then, Aurora. St. Luke's patients will continue to use its twin chambers that were installed in 1965 and nicknamed "Bonnie and Clyde."

Lakeview Equity Partners LLC, a Milwaukee-based private equity fund, has purchased a majority interest in Travel Technology Group, a Chicago-based travel coordinator for large events.
Financial terms of the acquisition, which closed Thursday night, were not disclosed.
"Travel Tech is an attractive company because of its profitability and growth potential, but also because of the resoundingly positive feedback we received from its stakeholders, both internal and external," said W. Kent Velde, president of Lakeview Equity Partners.
The founders and co-owners of Travel Technology Group will retain a minority equity interest in the company. The company's senior management will be retained and will manage day-to-day operations while working with Lakeview Equity Partners to devise future growth strategies.
Travel Technology Group provides event organizers and their customers with full-service housing and travel solutions, using award-winning technology. For example, the company has been named the official housing bureau of the upcoming Republican National Convention in the Twin Cities and is charged with managing the convention's hotel block and coordinating a paperless, online reservation system.
"This new partnership allows us to expand our business and invest more in our people, while remaining true to the clients who have paved the way for our current success," said Bob Derham, managing director of Travel Tech.  "Considering the investment criteria of Lakeview Equity Partners, this strategic partnership is a confirmation of Travel Tech’s dedication to the industry, our clients and our clients’ customers."
Travel Technology Group is the fifth investment made by Lakeview Equity Partners. The company's portfolio includes 5 Alarm Fire and Safety Equipment of Fort Atkinson; Automatän, based in Plover; Firehouse Animal Health Centers in Denver, Colo.; and LS Research, based in Cedarburg.

Manpower Inc. today reported first quarter net earnings of $75.5 million, or 94 cents per share, up 27 percent from $59.5 million, or 69 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.
The downtown Milwaukee-based staffing company's quarterly revenues rose to $5.4 billion, up 19 percent from a year earlier.
Results for the first quarter were favorably impacted by 14 cents per share as foreign currencies were relatively stronger compared with the first quarter of 2007. On a constant currency basis, revenues increased 8 percent over the prior year period.
"The first quarter performance underscores, once again, the strength of our geographic and service line portfolio. Operations like Elan, Germany and Italy performed extremely well with local currency revenue growth of 43%, 22% and 15%, respectively. In these important markets, while we remain on guard, we do not detect any material slowing in our business," said Jeffrey Joerres, Manpower chairman and chief executive officer. "While economic conditions remain uncertain in parts of the world, we believe our team, coupled with the strength of our portfolio of services, will deliver solid results in the second quarter. We anticipate our second quarter diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $1.47 to $1.51, which includes an estimated favorable currency impact of 20 cents."

Brookfield-based Norlight Inc. has expanded the service availability of its IPLive integrated communications bundles to businesses across the metropolitan Milwaukee area, including Brookfield, New Berlin, Waukesha, Pewaukee, Greenfield, Wauwatosa, Mequon, Cudahy, Franklin and Oak Creek.
The expanded markets join IPLive's other service areas of Appleton, De Pere, Green Bay, Janesville, Madison, Menasha, Monona, Neenah and Oshkosh.
Each IPLive bundle provides businesses with local and long distance phone services and a minimum of T1 Internet access, all delivered over a single, private Internet Protocol (IP) connection, while still using a customer's existing phone equipment and phone numbers. Because IPLive operates over a private IP connection, rather than the public Internet, bandwidth is maximized by allotting the entire connection to Internet traffic when phone calls are not being placed, thereby improving Internet performance.
"Demand for a bundled integrated communications solution from a customer service leader has been high," said Tim Mauck, Norlight's director of product marketing. "VoIP technology is typically being adopted and enjoyed by larger companies, so Norlight's main goal with IPLive is to provide the area's small to mid-sized businesses with the same kind of productivity-enhancing features, cost efficiencies, and simplified service management. Offering IPLive throughout metro Milwaukee is a natural product extension for us, because it enables us to gain a greater market presence and serve business customers in our own backyard."

The opening of the new David O. Nicholas Applied Finance Lab will be celebrated today at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Sheldon B. Lubar School of Business, 3202 N. Maryland Ave.
The event will take place at 5 p.m. today in the lab, which is located on the second floor of the business building.
The lab is funded through a $2.5 million gift from David O. Nicholas, president and chief investment officer of Nicholas Company Inc. Nicholas is a 1987 graduate of the school’s graduate finance program.
The Nicholas Lab provides a "bridge between the classroom and the world of investment finance, enhancing our students’ capabilities by providing them with sophisticated financial databases and investment decision-making and management tools," said Dean V. Kanti Prasad.
Equipped with state-of-the-art professional databases, streaming financial news, financial software and high-power dual-monitor computers, the Nicholas Lab includes the same technology and real-time market data, analysis and news found at investment firms.
"The lab will play a key role, not only in developing investment management expertise in-state, but in retaining that talent pool for our large investment management community," Nicholas said. "It is very important to both UWM and to the community to have this facility."
UWM also announced it has received a donation of $1.75 million for the creation of the Daniel M. Soref Learning Commons in the Golda Meier Library.
The donation came from the  Daniel M. Soref Charitable Trust.
The new area will include expanded learning spaces, enhanced technology, group study areas, classroom areas and a café.
"We are most grateful to the Daniel M. Soref Charitable Trust for this wonderful gift," said UWM Chancellor Carlos Santiago. "The flexible, open space and additional technology in the new Daniel M. Soref Learning Commons will provide more opportunities for students to gather, study, interact and work together. The UWM Libraries are critical to the success of our initiatives for economic growth, and this donation will help us enhance library facilities for both faculty and students."
The Daniel M. Soref Charitable Trust was established in 2001, following the death of Daniel M. Soref, the son of Samuel Soref, an officer and member of one of the founding families of Master Lock.
The Daniel M. Soref Learning Commons is scheduled to open in winter 2009.

U.S. Cellular customers in the north central region experience the highest call quality performance, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Wireless Call Quality Performance Study.
U.S. Cellular again ranked highest overall with fewer problems in initial connection, dropped or disconnected calls, static and voice distortion, according to the survey of the region, which includes Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.
"We recognize that cell phones are critical to helping customers keep connected with the people and activities that matter most to them," said Mike Irizarry, executive vice president and chief technical officer for U.S. Cellular. "We are thrilled that a respected firm like J.D. Power and Associates has recognized U.S. Cellular’s highest call quality for five consecutive reporting periods."
Conducted twice a year, the J.D. Power and Associates Wireless Call Quality Performance Study measures the number of problems experienced with wireless call quality.
Chicago-based U.S. Cellular is the nation's sixth-largest wireless service carrier, providing wireless service to 6 million customers in 26 states.

An earthquake rumbled through the Midwest early this morning, and it was felt in Wisconsin by many of those who were awake at the time. Read more in SBT's daily roundup of headlines from newspapers across the state at www.biztimes.com/#news.

Filmmaker Mark Irving wants to shine light on southeastern Wisconsin's transportation gridlock. Read more in today's Milwaukee Biz Blog.

The Dow Jones Industrials Average soared by more than 200 points this morning, fueled by the news that Citi Group Inc.'s writedowns for bad loans were not as bad as analysts had projected and a strong quarterly earnings report by Google Inc. The BizTimes Stock Index fell .35 points to close at 156.17 Thursday, but local stocks rose with the tide this morning. The largest local gainers this morning were Manpower Inc. (up $8.40 to $65.87), Bucyrus International Inc. (up $3.72 to $122.92) and Fiserv Inc. (up $3.00 to $53.89). The largest local decliners this morning were Badger Meter Inc. (down $2.42 to $47.83) and Strattec Security Corp. (down $2.28 to $38.72). The BizTimes Stock Index was created by Small Business Times and is monitored by North Shore Bank. The index, which measures the stock values of publicly held companies based in southeastern Wisconsin, is updated daily and can be viewed at www.biztimes.com.