Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative Opens Membership

The Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative has announced it is now accepting both community and physician members.

According to a press release on Wednesday, Chippewa Valley community members 18 years and older will be able to join the cooperative for a one time fee of $25, and licensed physicians can join for a one time fee of $100. Officials say the cooperative membership structure will help ensure that the health care provider is accountable to and managed by the community, rather than outside business interests.

Robert Krause, Chair of the Board of Organizers for the Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative, said “Our friends, family and neighbors deserve to have a hospital and healthcare services accountable to them, not to management teams outside of our region, so that we can have access to high quality healthcare for generations to come.”

The Cooperative was established this past February following the announcement that HSHS and Prevea would be exiting the region, costing residents two hospitals and a number of clinics. Since that announcement, other health care organizations have sought to expand their services to cover the gaps left behind when the hospitals officially closed in March.

To help address the loss of the hospitals, the Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative is also in the process of developing an independent, nonprofit community hospital. While no plans have been made for a location of that hospital yet, the cooperative has taken significant steps to build its organizational structure and operational plan for its eventual opening. Early plans show the hospital will feature 60-70 beds with an emergency room along with staff from OakLeaf Medical Network.