We may soon have more answers about what healthcare will look like in our area in the coming years.
“It’s crystal clear that the Chippewa Valley needs a non-profit independent hospital governed by people from the local area to provide additional critical healthcare services, hospital beds, and emergency room access to our community,”
– Robert “Bob” Krause, Chair of the Board of Organizers for the Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative.
After research, community input, and planning assessments, the Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative (CVHC) has taken significant next steps towards building an independent nonprofit community hospital in the Chippewa Valley to help close the healthcare gaps left by HSHS and Prevea’s exit from Western Wisconsin.
Since the Cooperative was founded on February 29, 2024, as an independently governed, locally rooted organization committed to making high-quality healthcare accessible and affordable in the Chippewa Valley, the organizing board has moved quickly to fully understand the critical healthcare needs in the region. In addition, the Cooperative has created the organization structures and developed an operational plan to build an independent community hospital with an emergency department as well as other critical healthcare services the region needs to help the community thrive.
“It’s crystal clear that the Chippewa Valley needs a non-profit independent hospital governed by people from the local area to provide additional critical healthcare services, hospital beds, and emergency room access to our community,” said Robert “Bob” Krause, Chair of the Board of Organizers for the Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative. “We must have a modern, innovative hospital accountable to the people of the Chippewa Valley, not management teams outside of the region, to make a lasting, positive impact on our community’s health and well-being for generations to come.”
Plans for the New Hospital
CVHC’s new independent community hospital will have 60-70 beds with an Emergency Room, will be a 501c3 nonprofit organization, locally governed and managed by a local Board of Directors elected by local community members of the cooperative. Community-based, the Cooperative’s new hospital will be cost-effective for local employers, will be open to all qualified physicians in the region, and will accept all government payors, including Medicare and Medicaid. The Cooperative is exploring the feasibility of a wide range of services to be a part of the new hospital, including cancer care, cardiology, labor and delivery, surgery, radiology, lab, and behavioral health.
The Board of Organizers is evaluating several locations for the new community hospital campus
in Eau Claire and Chippewa counties and seeks to confirm its new campus location by August.
Local architect River Valley Architects is working with the Cooperative and has already provided
initial concept plans for the hospital.
