Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) introduced new legislation to protect communities from sudden hospital closures that interrupt care and leave patients without access to the essential services they need to stay healthy. The Hospital Stability and Health Services (HSHS) Act would require closing hospital systems to notify the Department of Health and Human Services and develop a plan with public input to connect patients with accessible care. The legislation comes after Hospital Sisters Health System, also known as HSHS, recently announced they were abruptly closing two hospitals and over a dozen clinics in Western Wisconsin.
“For too many Wisconsin families, especially in our rural communities, health care is already a struggle to get. That’s why when hospitals like HSHS close with little to no notice for their patients, Wisconsinites are left high and dry and with no options to find the sometimes lifesaving care they need,”
said Senator Baldwin.
“If a big hospital is going to shut down in one of our communities, they should help ensure patients don’t slip through the cracks when they are gone. This legislation will help ensure those big hospital systems put their patients before profits and give Wisconsin families what they deserve: peace of mind that they will have access to the care they and their families need to stay healthy.”
Earlier this year, Hospital Sisters Health System announced they are closing Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chippewa Falls, along with all 19 Prevea Health locations in Wisconsin’s Chippewa Valley. These closures announced by Hospital Sisters Health System will result in the loss of emergency rooms, hospital beds, and critical care units, as well as access to maternal health care, behavioral health care, and dialysis treatments in Western Wisconsin. Senator Baldwin penned a letter to HSHS asking them to do right by their patients, employees, and community members as they close hospitals and health care facilities across Western Wisconsin.
