Wisconsin group aims to open hospital that closed this year

A nonprofit group in Wisconsin is aiming to build a new hospital after the closure of a hospital earlier this year.

The Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative is hoping to buy and reopen St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chippewa Falls; the hospital closed earlier this year. The Cooperative is aiming to build a new hospital in the area, but hopes to use St. Joseph's as a stopgap until the new hospital is finished.

But as the Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative pursues its long-range plans, the organization is hoping to reopen the hospital that shut its doors in the spring.

The cooperative says it has signed a letter of intent with the Hospital Sisters Health System to buy St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chippewa Falls. Citing financial challenges, HSHS closed St. Joseph’s Hospital and Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire in the spring.

The cooperative says it needs to evaluate the condition of St. Joseph’s. But if it’s in good shape, the organization hopes to begin serving patients at the hospital sometime in 2025.

Robert Krause, chair of the Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative, said the group hopes a reopened St. Joseph’s can serve as a stopgap until it can open its planned new hospital in nearby Lake Hallie.

“Since we started the Cooperative, we’ve been singularly focused on making high-quality healthcare accessible and affordable for Chippewa Valley residents as fast as possible,” Krause said in a statement.

“The new facility we’ve planned in Lake Hallie is fundamental to the long-term sustainability of the hospital,” Krause said. “At the same time, if we can, reopening the St. Joseph’s facility in 2025 will help us serve patients faster and doesn’t impede our plans or ability to open the new hospital.”

The cooperative says it aims to determine by April 2025 if it’s possible to reopen St. Joseph’s, but the organization says it needs to determine the costs. The group says it needs to determine if the facility needs significant repairs.

If St. Joseph’s can be reopened, the cooperative says it could begin seeing patients at the facility in the fall of 2025.

The cooperative says if St. Joseph’s can be reopened, it would offer 25 hospital beds, a 5-bed intensive care unit, an emergency department and labor and delivery services, along with diagnostic services.

The cooperative plans to open the new, nonprofit hospital, with more capacity in services, in 2027. The organization has estimated the total cost of the new hospital will be $158 million, including construction and startup costs. The cooperative has said the region needs a new hospital that is governed locally and not run by a system outside the area.

The group projects the new 144,000-square-foot hospital will have 48 beds, including 12 intensive care unit beds. It will also include an emergency department, surgical services, labor and delivery services, a cancer center, cardiology and diagnostic services.

The cooperative says after it opens the new hospital, it will look to utilize St. Joseph’s to serve other needs.

But first, the organization needs to find out if it’s feasible to open St. Joseph’s as a temporary location for acute care services.

“Once we understand whether reopening St. Joseph’s is possible, we will be in high gear to start caring for patients as fast as possible,” Krause said in a statement. “Then we will turn our attention to exploring other healthcare uses for the building once we’ve opened the new full-service hospital in Lake Hallie.”

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 the right location, but says it could have a new hospital open in 18 months, which would place the opening in the first half of 2026. Aspirus says its new hospital would initially focus on inpatient, emergency and primary care, along with basic lab and imaging services.

Read more: Wisconsin Hospital Association president discusses hospital closures, financial woes, and more