After Wisconsin hospitals close, plans emerge to build two new facilities

When two hospitals closed their doors in western Wisconsin earlier this year, community leaders and elected officials said they were worried about reduced access to healthcare services.

The Chippewa Falls Health Cooperative, a local, nonprofit organization, unveiled plans to open an independent, nonprofit hospital.

The Hospital Sisters Health System closed Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chippewa Falls in the spring. HSHS, a faith-based system, cited a host of financial difficulties that led to the closure of the two hospitals. Hospitals and health systems nationwide are continuing to struggle, with providers in rural areas facing a particularly difficult time.

Now, there are two separate efforts to establish hospitals in the region.

This week, the Chippewa Falls Health Cooperative, a local, nonprofit organization, unveiled plans to open an independent, nonprofit hospital in Lake Hallie, part of the Eau Claire metropolitan area. The group says it’s aiming to build a hospital with 48 beds, including 12 intensive care unit beds.

The cooperative says the total project will cost $158 million, including construction and startup costs. Officials say they hope to open the hospital in 2027.

Robert Krause, chairman of the board of organizers for the Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative, said the region needs another hospital.

“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,” Krause said in a statement. “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 cooperative was established in late February, just weeks after HSHS announced the plans to close its two hospitals. The cooperative said the hospital will offer an emergency department, labor and delivery services, cardiology services, a cancer center and other services.

The new hospital will have more than 400 full-time employees, not including the medical staff, the cooperative said in a news release.

Krause said the cooperative is determined to build a hospital that is locally governed.

“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 in a statement. “No longer will out-of-town hospital systems control the destiny of all hospital services for our community.”

Aspirus Health, a hospital system based in Wausau, Wisconsin, has also announced plans to build a new hospital in Chippewa Falls.

At the same time, Aspirus Health, a hospital system based in Wausau, Wisconsin, has also announced plans to build a new hospital in the area.

Aspirus announced last month that it’s aiming to build a new hospital in Chippewa Falls. The health system says it’s going to work with local officials to find a suitable location, but says it could have a new hospital open in 18 months. If that timetable holds, the hospital would be open in the first half of 2026.

Matt Heywood, Aspirus Health president and CEO, said in a statement last month that the hospital has been looking to fill unmet needs since the closure of the two hospitals in the spring. Heywood says Aspirus has been expanding services in the area, but now wants to take another step.

“After months of investigation and productive conversations with local officials, we have created a plan to build a facility where residents could access emergency care, inpatient hospital services and primary care,” Heywood said in a statement last month.

Aspirus says the new hospital would initially focus on inpatient, emergency and primary care, along with basic lab and imaging services. The health system says it will work with local officials to design the facility, as well as with state lawmakers and the office of Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers.

Jim Matheson, Aspirus Health senior vice president and chief strategy officer, noted the challenges for hospitals in the region but says the health system can establish a successful hospital.

“Communities throughout our region have made clear just how much they value local access to emergency and hospital care,” Matheson said in a statement. “Yet environmental and industry challenges make it very difficult for a hospital to succeed in an area like Chippewa Falls. Fortunately, Aspirus has a proven track record of success and we are confident in our strategy to sustain and grow services here.”

Aspirus operates 18 hospitals and more than 130 outpatient locations in largely rural areas across northern and central Wisconsin, northeastern Minnesota and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Aspirus recently completed the acquisition of St. Luke’s, based in Duluth, Minnesota.

In announcing its plans for a new hospital in Chippewa Falls, Aspirus has touted its roots in Wisconsin and the advantages of having access to a larger health system.