Wisconsin Lawmakers Release $10 Million to Help Build New Mental Health and Substance Abuse Center in Western Wisconsin

Monday, February 9th, 2026 -- 9:01 AM

(Rich Kremer, Wisconsin Public Radio) Wisconsin lawmakers have released $10 million to help build a new mental health and substance abuse treatment center in western Wisconsin.

According to Rich Kremer with Wisconsinn Public Radio, the unanimous vote to provide a one-time grant for the project comes nearly two years after a major healthcare provider closed a treatment center, two-major hospitals and several clinics in the region.

The 15-0 vote Tuesday by the Legislature’s powerful Joint Finance Committee was the last step in a protracted, partisan battle over how to respond after the Hospital Sisters Health System, or HSHS, announced a complete exit from Western Wisconsin in 2024.

In addition to the closure of hospitals in Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls, the withdrawal also marked the end for the region’s largest in-patient treatment center, the L.E. Phillips-Libertas Center, which provided alcohol and drug abuse treatment in northwestern Wisconsin for decades.

The money released by the Finance Committee is earmarked for Rogers Behavioral Health, a national, nonprofit provider of mental health and addiction treatment services.

Rogers is planning to build a new treatment center in Chippewa Falls and has already purchased an 18-acre property in the city and has contracted a construction company to build the facility.

In a statement, Rogers’ Behavioral Health President and CEO Cindy Meyer said the nonprofit is currently in the design phase and the new treatment center is expected to open in early 2027.

“As we wait for construction to be completed, we will be opening outpatient clinics in Chippewa Falls and Eau Claire,” Meyer said. “These services will include Partial Hospitalization (PHP), Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOP), outpatient counseling, psychiatric evaluations, and medication monitoring, with services anticipated to begin in September 2026.”

A spokesperson for Rogers told WPR the the treatment center is still in the design phase and the nonprofit hasn’t determined yet how many inpatient beds will be available.

Tanya Potter, who heads the Chippewa Valley chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, told WPR that since the closure of the Libertas Center in 2024, people needing inpatient mental health and substance abuse treatment services have had to travel to facilities in Madison, Milwaukee or Minnesota.

“So, then they have travel expenses,” said Potter. “You know, transporting the patients themselves can be a huge cost.” Potter said the new Rogers treatment facility in Chippewa Falls will “be a huge benefit to our area.”

NAMI Chippewa Valley Peer Support Program Director Kristin Deprey said the group has offered support groups to try and fill the mental health and substance abuse gaps over the past two years by offering support groups and classes.

“But there are places like Rogers Behavioral Health that are going to be able to do things that we can’t do, and this is just a wonderful thing for our community,” said Deprey. “And the fact that there was bipartisan support that got us here is absolutely huge as well.”

While the funding for the Rogers treatment facility drew wide bipartisan support, Republican and Democratic lawmakers had been at odds over how to respond to the HSHS closures in western Wisconsin over the past two years.

After HSHS closed the Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chippewa Falls, western Wisconsin Republicans introduced a bill to redirect $15 million towards remaining emergency departments.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers used his partial veto power to make the grants available for any hospital services in the region. The GOP majority on the Joint Finance Committee refused to release the money, which went back into the state’s general fund at the end of the 2023-2025 legislative session.

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