Frederica Freyberg:
In a gut-punch to rural healthcare in northwest Wisconsin, medical clinics in 10 communities and two hospitals have announced they are shutting down, resulting in the loss of more than 1,400 staff and physicians. One state legislator from the region called it devastation. The healthcare providers said the decision was the result of financial stress related to things including lingering impacts of the pandemic, inflation and workforce shortages. One of the clinics and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chippewa Falls will close. That city’s mayor, Greg Hoffman, says he was not given notice of the closures. He joins us now. Mayor, thanks very much for being here.

Greg Hoffman:
Yes, good morning.

Frederica Freyberg:
So what was your reaction when you learned of these closures?

Greg Hoffman:
Well, little bit of history — I knew that St. Joe’s Hospital had been having some financial issues and they were looking to market it, and so that wasn’t a complete shock. It’s just the fact that there was no advance notice. All of a sudden, I get an email sent to me about 11:30, 12:00, informing me of all the closures and I was, yeah, very, very shocked by the whole events. And really, the thing that shocked me the most was that Sacred Heart and Prevea clinics were shutting down. We’ve worked around St. Joe’s. We were trying to come up with something, but having these other clinics, it is — it’s just devastation for the community.

Frederica Freyberg:
Because what will it mean for your community?

Greg Hoffman:
Well, you know, right now, we’re trying to figure out where we go. Sacred Heart Hospital and St. Joe’s accounted for approximately 40% of the beds and the medical care in the Chippewa Valley. So where do you go with 40%? I mean, we have Marshall Clinic yet. We have Oak Leaf Surgical and then you Mayo Luther, but they only have so much capacity. And so that, to me, is the real question, is what do we do? Chippewa Falls is blessed with an extremely large senior population. We have about 30% of our population is over the age of 65, and, of course, coming with that over 65 is health issues, and that’s what was nice about Sacred Heart and St. Joe’s. So where do we go now? And then in addition to that, you’ve got all the employees. You got the whole economy. I mean, it’s just a ripple effect.

Frederica Freyberg:
How frightening is this for you and the people who live in the region?

Greg Hoffman:
Well, you know, frightening is maybe a strong word. Right now, we’re trying to process all this. I’ve had numerous conversations with medical, a number of people outside of the medical field of what does this look like and is it a strong concern? Yes. And we need to work through this to see what it’s going to look like when we get to the other side. How much can Mayo Luther handle, how much can Marshall handle? Right now, we might have to go to the Luther Hospital, which is 15 miles north or the Aspirus Stanley. It’s really hard to say. And so there’s a lot of unknowns at this time that we’re trying to get our arms around and not let our imagination go down the road too far.

Frederica Freyberg:
How does Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement factor into these closures, do you think?

Greg Hoffman:
Well, I was just visiting with someone from the hospital board and that is part of our problem. Some of these facilities, I wouldn’t say they were [intelligible] but they took a larger share of the Medicare and Medicaid than maybe some of the other facilities in the area and as you know, Medicaid and Medicare payment on that is considerably less than private insurance. So that has definitely figured into the equation and that I wouldn’t say that was the only reason, but it had a portion of what happened to these facilities.

Frederica Freyberg:
You said that right now you’re trying to work through these things. With less than a minute left, have you been getting the answers or the support you need to work through this and come out the other end, as you said?

Greg Hoffman:
Yes. Everybody has been very cooperative. Everybody is, you know, we’re all looking for solutions to see what we can do. The upper — the Chippewa Valley is a very resilient community and I’m very confident that we’ll find — get to the other side. It’s just getting there is where there’s a lot of pain and frustration at this moment.

Frederica Freyberg:
Yeah. Well, Mayor Greg Hoffman, thanks very much and good luck.

Greg Hoffman:
Thank you.