PUT A PIN IN IT. Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative announced Wednesday, Dec. 4, that it is purchasing 20 acres in Lake Hallie for a new hospital. The site is indicated by the "H" on the map above. (Submitted image)

A newly formed health care cooperative has identified the site for a new hospital it aims to open by 2027: a 20-acre parcel in Lake Hallie just off U.S. 53.

Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative announced Wednesday it has entered an agreement with Dave and John Markquart to purchase 20 acres on the west side of U.S. 53, near Markquart Toyota and across the highway from Valley Sports Academy.

The nonprofit cooperative said it “evaluated many different locations throughout Eau Claire and Chippewa counties” and chose the site “based on extensive and detailed modeling of traffic flow, demographics, and projected growth patterns for the area. Importantly, this location is easily accessible for emergency services.”

The co-op was formed last February, just a few weeks after Illinois-based Hospital Sisters Health System announced it was closing two local hospitals, Sacred Heart in Eau Claire and St. Joseph’s in Chippewa Falls.

An artist's rendering of the proposed hospital (Image via River Valley Architects)

“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,” said Robert Krause, chair of the co-op’s board of organizers. “The Cooperative’s new full-service hospital will provide a wide range of healthcare services here, not a long ambulance or helicopter ride away.”

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The Cooperative’s new full-service hospital will provide a wide range of healthcare services here, not a long ambulance or helicopter ride away.

ROBERT KRAUSE

chair of board of organizers, chippewa Valley Health Cooperative

The co-op says it intends to build a “full-service, independent, locally-governed, nonprofit hospital,” which will be 144,000 square feet and include 48 beds, a 12-bed Intensive Care Unit, an emergency department, medical-surgical services, labor and delivery, critical care units, a comprehensive cancer center, as well as comprehensive diagnostic services, such as laboratory, radiology, and cardiology services. “The new hospital will also have a comprehensive therapy unit to offer physical, occupational, and speech therapies,” the announcement stated. “The projected cost for the new hospital is $120 million, with a total project cost of $158 million, including start-up costs, substantially less than initial estimates.”

The new hospital will have more than 410 full-time employees, not including the medical staff, who will consist of “qualified and accredited physicians from throughout the region,” including those from OakLeaf Medical Network, “which has pledged to support the new hospital,” the announcement said.

The co-op says it is also exploring ways to provide behavior health services to the Chippewa Valley.
  
The Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative is one of two organizations that have announced plans to build new hospitals in the region, the other being Wausau-based Aspirus Health, which said in November it intended to build a new hospital in the City of Chippewa Falls.

Read more about the Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative and the details of its announcement here.