Gundersen Tri-County Clinics recognized with first Excellence Emplify’d award

February 17, 2025

WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN – Gundersen Tri-County Clinics was awarded the first-ever Gundersen Region Excellence Emplify’d award last month.

Kelly Callan – quality support for screening for clinical depression team and member of Excellence Emplify’d committee – said the clinic earned the award from its practice of screening each patient – not just those showing signs – for clinical depression, an effort focused on closing the mental healthcare gaps in rural communities.

“We need to be screening people, even if they’re here for a sliver or a cough – we need to make sure their mental health is under control,” Callan said.

Screening for clinical depression was a good place to start, she said, because of the emphasis Gundersen has placed on doing so at all yearly annual exam visits. 

“If (patients) say they are having thoughts of harming themselves or are depressed, just because they aren’t there for it, they’re crying out to you for help,” Callan said. “(Gundersen Tri-County Clinics) is screening at every primary care visit, so their numbers are there and they’re keeping track of their patients. They’ve really adopted it.”

Toni Duch, a licensed professional counselor at the Tri-County Clinics, said though such integrated care in a rural setting isn’t necessarily the norm, the service is “a gem.”

“If that patient is struggling, if we don’t ask, we don’t know,” she said. 

Duch said Tri-County was also a pilot site for Gundersen’s social determinants of health initiative, where patients were asked questions regarding food insecurity, housing instability and other barriers in their lives. 

Callan said a department from the 40 ambulatory clinics in the Gundersen Region will be recognized with the Excellence Emplify’d award each month.

Hypertension is the focus for February, she said, with other areas this year to include diabetes, well-child visits, screening for colon cancer and screening for breast cancer.