New Hospital for Chippewa Valley after Closures a Year Ago

Shockwaves rippled far beyond the emergency rooms and patient beds when two major hospitals suddenly closed in the Chippewa Valley more than a year ago. But rather than sit back and accept the losses for the Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls communities, some local leaders are springing into action by creating the Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative. It is a grassroots effort for building a new nonprofit hospital which would be independent and governed locally by the people it serves. The goal for opening is the fall of 2027.  

“We saw this as both a medical and economic crisis,” Cooperative Board of Organizers Chairperson Bob Krause explains. “We couldn’t just watch that kind of care and community investment disappear.”

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Cooperative leaders are hosting a community information meeting on April 15, 2025. It will be held at the Pablo Center at the Confluence, 128 Graham Avenue in Eau Claire, starting at 6 p.m.

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Sacred Heart and St. Joseph’s had most recently been run by the Southern Illinois-based corporation HSHS. Sacred Heart was originally started in Eau Claire by the Sisters of St. Frances in the late 1880s. The Sisters of St. Joseph supervised the building of a hospital in Chippewa Falls in 1888.  

Both provided long-time care and employment across west-northwest Wisconsin. The abrupt shutdown left thousands of patients without a local hospital along with a deep economic and emotional void.

Those involved with the new cooperative are laying the groundwork for a modern hospital that will rise in the Lake Hallie area on a 20-acre site along Highway 53 with access to Interstate 94 and Highways 29 and 12.

The design keeps an eye on efficiency, compassion, and sustainability. The new facility will house 48 beds, a full emergency department, surgical suites, labor and delivery, cancer care, and more. It’s a scaled, focused version of what was lost but holds the intent to serve the present and future needs of this 18-county region.

Meantime, with a long road of construction ahead, an immediate interim plan is also in the works. The cooperative wants to reopen the shuttered St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chippewa Falls as a temporary care hub. The old building has some challenges but could relieve the burden on other regional providers like Mayo and Marshfield Clinic. 

“We’re working closely with local independent physicians,” Mike Sanders says. “There’s still a strong patient base and medical staff. What’s missing is the hospital—and we’re here to fix that.”

The cooperative already has more than 1,100 members and every single one has a say in how the new hospital will be run. It’s a return to the idea of local governance in health care, and built not from corporate mandates, but from neighbors working together.

“We don’t know all the answers yet,” Krause says. “But we know we need a solution that puts patients and community first.”

Learn more about the cooperative including how to get involved here: Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative – Access to Affordable Healthcare in the Chippewa Valley Region