Healthcare clinic reopens in Mondovi as Emplify Health Clinic

Cheryl Hentz

Contributor

January 20, 2025

MONDOVI – People in and around Mondovi once again have access to primary health care and other services thanks to the reopening of the former Prevea Mondovi Health Center by Gundersen Tri-County Hospital and Clinics.

Gundersen purchased the facility at 250 State Road 37 last May – one month after it closed – and reopened it as Emplify Health Clinic by Gundersen, Mondovi Clinic Dec. 16, 2024.

Emplify Health is the new brand for Bellin Health and Gundersen Health System.

Daniel Coenen, administrator of Gundersen Tri-County Hospital and Clinics, said the clinic’s opening is part of the joint health systems’ efforts at expanding its care coverage to meet the medical needs of patients in West Central Wisconsin. 

“The clinic in Mondovi is the first Emplify Health Clinic in the Gundersen region,” he said. “The reason I say the Gundersen region is because we also have the Bellin region.”

The clinic, Coenen said, offers primary care, including preventative care and routine exams, for all ages.

“(In addition, it offers) lab facilities/services, and we’ll soon be adding X-ray services,” he said. “We are also offering a physical therapy department, which is unique for a small clinic. Our physical therapist is one of the individuals who previously worked at the clinic when it was Prevea. People know her and like her, so we’re very fortunate and feel lucky to have her.”

Though the clinic’s full name is Emplify Health by Gundersen, Mondovi Clinic, Coenen said the sign outside simply says Emplify Health.

As the two health organizations gradually transition to the Emplify brand, he said any new clinics will be Emplify Health.

However, Susan Zimmerman, marketing and communications manager with Gundersen Tri-County Hospital and Clinics, said clinics will still keep some of their identifiers.

“For example, you will see Emplify Health by Gundersen, Mondovi Clinic or Emplify Health by Bellin to keep those identifiers in place – especially with the relationship that we have,” she said.

Excitement for the reopening

Though he didn’t know the exact number, Coenen said the clinic’s staff includes many employees who previously worked at the facility under Prevea.

“I don’t have a full understanding of who was all employed when it was Prevea, but I can tell you that we have been able to reemploy some folks who previously worked at that clinic, including our physical therapist,” he said. “We’re very proud that we’ve been able to give that employment back to people from that community.” 

Two of those returning employees include Kendra Edwards (registered nurse) and Emilee Pfaffe (medical assistant).

Edwards worked at Sacred Heart Hospital and the Prevea clinics in Eau Claire and Altoona, and Pfaffe was at Prevea in Mondovi – both of which closed last spring, leaving them uncertain about what was next for their careers.                                                                                                                             

Both Pfaffe and Edwards said they were excited to hear the clinic in Mondovi would reopen.

“I opened (the) clinic seven years ago, and then I had to pack it up and close it, so that was really sad,” Pfaffe said. “But now I get to open it again, so it’s kind of exciting. A new name. A new beginning.”

As familiar faces in the region, Edwards said she hopes “patients are comfortable putting their trust in us with their healthcare needs.”

Zimmerman said the excitement of the staff at Emplify Health is equally shared by the community.

“There is an overall excitement for us to be able to provide services in that community and that region, especially with the loss of the clinic and then the closures in the Eau Claire-Chippewa Valley area,” she said. “What we’ve heard from patients and families in that region is that they’re very excited to have those services available again to them.” 

The new Mondovi clinic is currently open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. three days a week – Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Once an additional physician joins the clinic in late February or early March, Coenen said the clinic will be open five days a week – Monday through Friday.

Going green whenever, wherever possible 

Besides positioning themselves in places where they can continue providing health care in much-needed areas, Coenen said Emplify Health also prides itself on doing what’s right for the environment.

According to Gundersen Envision Project Manager Ariel Brophy, “sustainability is a core piece of Gundersen, and we plan to keep it that way.”

These aren’t just words, Brophy said.

As the health system continues to focus on sustainability throughout its current facilities, she said the same focus is put on any new facilities.

“We are going to continue to move toward net zero for all of our facilities,” Brophy said.

Gundersen’s Elroy clinic has recently accomplished zero-energy use. 

Elsewhere in the health system, Xcel Energy and Gundersen are in the mindset of a project at its Onalaska Campus that will create one of the first 100% resilient and renewable energy healthcare campuses in the United States.

Meanwhile, in Whitehall, Coenen said they recently completed a huge expansion of the new Gundersen Tri-County Hospital, which doubled the size of the previous hospital.

As part of that expansion, he said they made a huge investment in solar power.

“We were able to get some significant funding from the government to make a really big investment in solar power,” he said. “I think that is part of the overall mission that we have at Gundersen, which is to continue being good stewards of the environment and look at our carbon footprint.”

That funding – which came in the form of a $1 million federal grant, secured with the help of Sen. Tammy Baldwin and former Rep. Ron Kind – Joni Olson, administrator at Gundersen Tri-County Hospital, said, has allowed the hospital to be outfitted with a solar panel array.

Olson said a new solar array will eventually provide about 50% of the hospital’s energy use in the new hospital.

The reduced costs in energy use, Coenen said, will translate into lower healthcare costs for their patients.

“Gundersen Health has really tried to hang their hat on being good stewards of the environment,” he said.