The Eau Claire Chamber of Commerce has created an HSHS/Prevea Recovery Task Force after Springfield, Ill.-based Hospital Sisters Health System decided to close two hospitals and regional health centers it operates with Green Bay, Wis.-based Prevea Health, the Leader-Telegram reported Jan. 26.
The two hospitals, Eau Claire, Wis.-based Sacred Heart Hospital and Chippewa Falls, Wis.-based St. Joseph's Hospital, are expected to close on or before April 21. The Prevea Health clinics will close on or before June 30, according to a Jan. 22 joint HSHS and Prevea Health release shared with Becker's.
"All other HSHS operations, be it in Eastern Wisconsin or Illinois, will continue to remain open and available to deliver care in the communities where they are located. This includes Prevea in Eastern Wisconsin, the HSHS Medical Group in Illinois and all Prairie Cardiovascular clinics in Illinois," a spokesperson for HSHS said in a statement shared with Becker's.
The closures will affect around 1,082 HSHS and 325 Prevea colleagues and physicians.
The task force will comprise regional community leaders and elected officials, Dave Minor, director of the Eau Claire Chamber of Commerce, told the publication.
A website has been created for the public to submit questions they have regarding the closures, with identical portals to be featured for additional regional Chamber of Commerce organizations.
The next step will be to create around 10 to 12 subcommittees where appropriate committees can sort through and examine public questions submitted to the websites.
"Our region, our communities, are willing to step up. We know we will survive, we know we may prevail in this, we just don't know what it will look like when we're done," Mr. Minor told the Leader-Telegram.
Elected state and federal officials have been invited to attend the task force's next meeting.
"Together with HSHS, we are focused on ensuring continuity of care for patients as well as helping them transition their care to other area hospitals and providers," Ashok Rai, MD, president and CEO of Prevea, said in the release.
Becker's has reached out to the Eau Claire Chamber of Commerce for comment and will update this story as more information becomes available.