Health Care Systems Throughout Wisconsin Struggling to Provide and Maintain Services in Rural Communities

Thursday, February 15th, 2024 -- 1:01 PM

(Caitlin Schuda, USA TODAY NETWORK - Wisconsin) Health care systems throughout Wisconsin are facing challenges in providing and maintaining services in rural communities, and the decisions they're making to address them have made headlines over the last several weeks.

According to Caitlin Schuda with USA TODAY NETWORK - Wisconsin, Prevea Health and Hospital Sisters Health System recently announced plans to close Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire, St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chippewa Falls and all Prevea locations across the Chippewa Valley.

In a joint release, the companies cited challenges in providing rural health care. Marshfield Clinic Health System has recently halted services, redirected some services to facilities with more resources and furloughed about 3% of its employees.

In a statement regarding the company’s furloughs, the health system said the furloughs were necessary to address the challenges of providing health care in rural areas.

“Providing health care in our rural geography comes with challenges and it’s imperative we think differently,” said Jeff Starck, a media relations specialist for Marshfield Clinic Health System. “Managing rising supply and labor costs are key to continuing to meet the needs of our patients across the region.”

The American Hospital Association reports there were 136 rural hospital closures from 2010 to 2021, including 19 in 2020 alone. The Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform cites more than 600 rural hospitals, or 30% of all rural hospitals throughout the country, are at risk of closing without enough revenue to cover the costs of providing patient care.

Eric Borgerding, the president and CEO of the Wisconsin Hospital Association, said challenges in rural health care are different from those faced in urban areas and include an older population, reimbursement rates and worker shortages.

Starck and John Gardner, Marshfield Clinic Health System’s director of communications, also shared insight into challenges the health system is facing as it provides medical care across about 50,000 square miles in rural Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

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