Governor Evers Discusses HSHS and Prevea Health Closures

Wednesday, February 7th, 2024 -- 10:01 AM

(Hope Kirwan, Wisconsin Public Radio) Gov. Tony Evers says Hospital Sisters Health System and Prevea Health should have told state officials and their employees that closures were coming well before the announcement was made two weeks ago.

According to Hope Kirwan with Wisconsin Public Radio, notices filed with the state Department of Workforce Development on Jan. 22 said layoffs are expected to begin on March 22 at HSHS Sacred Heart hospital in Eau Claire, HSHS St. Joseph’s hospital in Chippewa Falls and the associated Prevea Health facilities.

Nearly 1,400 employees across 21 locations are expected to lose their jobs. During a visit to Chippewa Valley Technical College in Eau Claire on Monday, Evers met with local and state leaders in workforce development, health care and higher education to talk about what’s being done to help workers and patients.

“I am incredibly disappointed as governor because of how this happened and how it was handled, frankly, is wrong,” Evers said during the discussion. “The employers did nothing to give their employees any warning and they did nothing to give my administration any warning.”

Evers told reporters after the event that he was confident in local and state efforts to connect laid off workers with new employment. That includes a community job fair focused on health care on Wednesday hosted by the West Central Wisconsin Workforce Development Board.

But the governor said he is concerned about the future availability of health care services in the region, especially for mental health. “The biggest issue is who’s going to run the hospitals,” Evers said during the event. “I’d like to say I have an answer. I do not. I cannot force that to happen.”

Last week, OakLeaf Medical Network announced it had contacted HSHS leadership about purchasing the western Wisconsin facilities with the hope of continuing services.

An HSHS spokesperson said on Friday that the health system had received correspondence from the private physician network and had been in touch with them. The spokesperson did not respond on Monday to a request for comment on the governor’s remarks.

Nathan Houdek, the state’s commissioner of insurance, said during the event that his office has contacted all insurance companies that provide coverage in the area to ensure that patients won’t be negatively affected when transitioning their care to a new provider.

“We’re making sure that in-network providers are still being dealt with appropriately and people aren’t being charged for having to go out of network if they need to,” Houdek said.

He said people affected by the closures should contact his agency with questions or complaints if they feel they aren’t able to access the care they need, or if they are being charged an inappropriate amount for services.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.