By Chris Vetter
The Leader-Telegram
CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. — Plans for a new hospital that would be built along the U.S. 53 corridor in Lake Hallie are moving forward.
The Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative announced Wednesday it is constructing a “full-service, independent, locally-governed, nonprofit hospital in Lake Hallie, with a goal to open in fall 2027. The decision came after exhaustive research to determine the optimal configuration, healthcare service offering, location, and long-term sustainability requirements for a new independent hospital in the Chippewa Valley.”
The Cooperative’s new 144,000-square-foot state-of-the-art hospital will be a flexible facility including 48 hospital beds, with a 12-bed Intensive Care Unit (ICU), an emergency department, medical-surgical services, labor & delivery, critical care units, a comprehensive cancer center, and comprehensive diagnostic services, including laboratory, radiology, and cardiology services, the press release states.
The new hospital would also have a comprehensive therapy unit to offer physical, occupational, and speech therapies. The projected cost for the new hospital is $120 million, with a total project cost of $158 million, including start-up costs, substantially less than initial estimates.
The Cooperative evaluated many different locations throughout Eau Claire and Chippewa counties for the new hospital, ultimately choosing a 20-acre parcel in Lake Hallie on the west side of U.S. 53, with access to both Highway 29 and Highway 12. The Cooperative has entered into an agreement with Dave and John Markquart to purchase the land.
“This ideal location is optimally situated for easy access to the hospital for patients and emergency services from the entire region,” said Peter Hoeft, member of the Cooperative’s Board of Organizers.
“The decision was based on extensive and detailed modeling of traffic flow, demographics, and projected growth patterns for the area. Importantly, this location is easily accessible for emergency services,” the press release states.
The Cooperative is also exploring ways to bring behavioral health services to the community.
“Our community and our research have made it abundantly clear that our growing region needs access to more local, effective, and affordable healthcare services in many critical areas,” said Robert Krause, chair of the board of organizers for the Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative. “The Cooperative’s new full-service hospital will provide a wide range of healthcare services here, not a long ambulance or helicopter ride away.”
The hospital will employ more than 410 full-time employees, not including medical staff. The medical staff will include qualified and accredited physicians from throughout the region. The OakLeaf Medical Network, the largest independent network of physicians and clinics in Western Wisconsin, has pledged to support the new hospital. OakLeaf Medical Network clinics care for over 55,000 local primary care patients.
The Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative, a 501©(3) non-profit organization, was formed on February 29, just six weeks after HSHS announced it was exiting western Wisconsin.
“With the goal of transforming the healthcare landscape in the Chippewa Valley and ensuring the local community is not solely dependent on hospital services owned by and accountable to organizations outside our region, the Cooperative has moved quickly to be able to help close the significant healthcare gaps the community is experiencing today,” the press release states.
“We have moved as fast as we could without cutting corners with due diligence to determine the size, location, and range of healthcare services we need to put in place to ensure that our community has access to exceptional, local, cost-effective healthcare for generations to come,” Krause said. “No longer will out-of-town hospital systems control the destiny of all hospital services for our community.”
The Cooperative conducted a wide range of research, working with University of Wisconsin Extension specialists, in cooperative formation and governance, trauma care, emergency medical services, and public facilities financing, and contracted with Wipfli, a nationally recognized expert in healthcare, to conduct a comprehensive feasibility study for the new hospital.
The Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative is a nonprofit organization and independent, accountable to, and governed by its members, who are residents from the 18-county greater Chippewa Valley region, as well as physicians and other medical professionals who are accredited and licensed to practice in Wisconsin. Independent hospitals are not owned by health systems or integrated delivery networks, both of which prioritize caring for patients in their own “ecosystems” of clinics and physicians, the press release states.
There are over 1,500 independent hospitals in the United States.
More information is available at chippewavalleyhealthcooperative.org.
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