Leaders of Physician Network in Chippewa Valley Will Continue to Try and Establish Independent Hospital

Friday, March 8th, 2024 -- 8:01 AM

(Hope Kirwan, Wisconsin Public Radio) Leaders of a physician network in the Chippewa Valley region said their efforts to establish an independent hospital will continue, despite failed attempts to acquire two facilities slated to close this spring.

According to Hope Kirwan with Wisconsin Public Radio, OakLeaf Medical Network announced on Tuesday that it was assisting a group of local business leaders in establishing the Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative.

The newly registered cooperative, which is in process of becoming a nonprofit, will work toward opening an independent hospital in the region in response to the coming closures of Hospital Sisters Health System facilities.

HSHS began winding down operations at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chippewa Falls and Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire in late January as part of the Illinois-based health system’s exit from the region.

The closures include the network of Prevea Health primary and specialty care clinics, impacting nearly 1,400 workers. A week after the closure announcement, OakLeaf reported that it had made an offer to work with HSHS to maintain operations at the facilities with the hope of eventually operating the hospitals and clinics.

One of OakLeaf’s providers, Chippewa Valley Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, also sued HSHS for breach of contract, asking the court to order the health system to maintain services until July. But the judge denied the request for a temporary injunction during a hearing last week.

Dr. Kyle Dettbarn, board chair of OakLeaf and one of the network’s physicians, said they had hoped to maintain the emergency rooms, intensive care units and other critical services because of the impact the closures will have on the community. Dettbarn said he has provided pulmonary and critical care services to patients at the hospitals for more than two decades.

“Frequently, Sacred Heart is on divert because we’re full, we do not have any bed availability,” he said. “The hospital across town, the Mayo Clinic hospital, is frequently on divert. And it’s not unusual for that to occur on at least a weekly basis. So when (HSHS) announced that they were closing, we quickly realized that this was going to turn into a health care crisis.”

He said HSHS never responded to their offer beyond acknowledging that it was received. When asked about the proposal from OakLeaf, an HSHS spokesperson said in an email that the health system’s focus “remains on winding down our hospital operations thoughtfully and with patient safety as our top priority.”

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