Keeping care local in Chippewa Falls

Judith Munson

Contributor

October 12, 2026

CHIPPEWA FALLS – After the sudden closure of two hospitals and their primary care clinic network in 2024, Chippewa Valley residents were left reeling in a lack of healthcare options.

The Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS) announced in January of that year that it was pulling out of Western Wisconsin. 

Two months later, HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chippewa Falls and HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire were shuttered.

Almost immediately, Jason Troxell, president of Aspirus’ Wisconsin Northwest Division, said Wausau-based Aspirus Health started considering how it could help meet the healthcare needs of the area. 

This division, Troxell said, serves Stanley, Medford and now Chippewa Falls, which celebrated the grand opening of the new Aspirus Chippewa Falls Hospital and Clinic Sept. 22.

“It was shortly after those closures that we decided to open this facility,” he said. “We recognized we had to help meet the critical needs of the community. Patients were waiting a longer time to receive emergency care, and ambulances had to go further to get to emergency care.” 

Troxell said there was also a critical need for inpatient services due to the beds that were no longer available. 

“We wanted to help keep patients in their community and not have to travel if at all possible,” he said. 

More on the project 

According to Aspirus’ website (aspirus.org), the healthcare organization serves northeastern Minnesota, North Central Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. 

The health system operates 19 hospitals and 130 outpatient locations, with nearly 14,000 total employees, including 1,300 employed physicians and advanced practice clinicians.

Troxell said the new hospital in Chippewa Falls features emergency care, 10 inpatient beds and an adjoining clinic. 

Regarding the latter, he said “primary care is the backbone of healthcare,” so the facility has been outfitted with “a primary care clinic, primary care physicians and other care providers.”

“The facility also provides imaging services, laboratory services and an on-site inpatient pharmacy,” he said. 

According to a statement released by Aspirus, the project reflects the organization’s commitment to listening to the needs of local patients. 

“By combining hospital and clinic services in one setting,” per the statement, “the facility is designed to support timely evaluation, treatment and follow-up while creating a more seamless experience for patients and families.”

Troxell said the hospital was completed in only 13 months despite the typical timeframe for hospital construction, staff hiring and training requiring three to five years. 

“We didn’t want it to take years, so we limited it to specific services to open quickly,” he said. “We wanted to start caring for patients on day one.”

Anne Sadowska, vice president and chief administrative officer of Aspirus’ Wisconsin Northwest Division, said the facility was planned to restore local access to basic services as soon as possible.

“We are proud to bring together the services, technology and care teams that will help people receive excellent, compassionate care closer to home,” she said. “This opening represents an important milestone for Aspirus and for the Chippewa Falls community.”

Strong community support 

Troxell said thus far, the reaction from the public has been “very good” to the hospital/clinic’s opening. 

Even before the ribbon cutting last month, he said Aspirus’ communication with the community helped lead to a strong start. 

“I feel like things are going well across the board,” he said. “With the amount of work we did communication-wise with local police departments, fire departments, EMS departments and other healthcare facilities, it’s been a great start. Every day, we have more visits with more people scheduling primary care.” 

The new hospital, Troxell said, has also met the needs of the surrounding region by serving as a new employer, which is news welcomed by the many nurses, doctors and support staff who were previously displaced.

The loss of St. Joseph’s and Sacred Heart, he said, affected the region deeply, as both hospitals dated back to the late 1880s. 

“Losing this legacy of health care that these two facilities represented – the hospitals and their primary care clinic network – was very, very difficult,” he said. “There are definitely a lot of emotions attached to remembering that closure amongst even our own staff. Several of them live in this part of the state.” 

To help restore some normalcy, Troxell said Aspirus has hired people formerly employed by the two hospitals.

“A good number of our staff – nurses, imaging, lab, clinic and hospital personnel – were previous HSHS employees,” he said. “Some of them were hired at our Aspirus Stanley location when the hospitals first closed and wanted to transition back because the Chippewa Valley is their home.” 

Planning for the Aspirus Chippewa Falls location has included the possibility of future expansion, Troxell said. 

He said the building was designed with green space all around it, and if needed, the facility could double, triple or quadruple in size by building up.

“The available space will also allow for expanding the hospital with additional surgical capabilities, inpatient beds and other buildings,” he said. “As for services, we’ll definitely complete assessments in the future to determine what’s needed. If we’re going to expand this building, what services do we need to add?”

The inaugural event held at the new hospital last month saw more than 1,000 local residents, community leaders, clinicians, staff and members of the Aspirus leadership team tour the facility, Sadowska said. 

“This is about more than opening a building,” she said. “It is about restoring and strengthening access to trusted healthcare services in a way that supports the long-term health and vitality of Chippewa Falls and the broader Chippewa Valley. We are grateful to the many team members, partners and community supporters who helped make this possible.”