Wisconsin rural hospitals team up to form network

Ten rural hospitals in Wisconsin are banding together to create a network that they say will expand care and help support smaller providers.

The hospitals are establishing the Wisconsin High Value Network, a clinically integrated network that will enable collaboration on business initiatives and efforts to improve patient care. Members will be able to work together to get better prices on medical equipment and supplies, officials say.

The hospitals are teaming with Cibolo Health, which works with rural, independent hospitals to create clinically integrated networks. Cibolo has also formed similar networks of rural hospitals in Minnesota, Montana, Ohio, Nebraska and North Dakota.

The new Wisconsin network says it is talking with other rural, independent hospitals about the possibility of joining the network.

David Hartberg, CEO of Vernon Health in Viroqua, Wis., a rural hospital in Viroqua, Wis., will serve as the board chairman of the Wisconsin High Value Network. He said collaboration will help the small hospitals in the network serve their communities more effectively.

"By working together, we can deliver real benefits for patients, providers and hospitals in enhancing clinical outcomes, providing more care in our communities and controlling the costs of medical equipment, clinical software and other purchases," Hartberg said in a statement. "Our clinically integrated network will give providers and patients the data they need to make the best decisions about care together."

Nathan White, president of Cibolo Health, and Clint MacKinney, MD, Cibolo Health's chief medical officer, will oversee the network’s day-to-day operations.

"The clinically integrated network will employ new technologies, establish innovative workflows and harness the power of collective clinical wisdom to support rural health care teams," MacKinney, MD, a Wisconsin physician, said in a statement. "Bringing more care into rural communities advances our vision of supporting healthy Wisconsinites in thriving rural communities."

The ten hospitals in the network are Black River Health; Edgerton Hospital and Health Services; Grant Regional Health Services; Lafayette Hospital & Clinics; Reedsburg Area Medical Center; The Richland Hospital; Sauk Prairie Healthcare; Southwest Health; St. Croix Health; and Vernon Health.

Nine of the facilities are designated as critical access hospitals. The combined revenue of all 10 providers is $880 million, the network said in a news release.

Rural hospitals in Wisconsin, and all across the country, have struggled in recent years.

The Hospital Sisters Health System closed two Wisconsin hospitals in March 2024: Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chippewa Falls. HSHS, a faith-based system, operates 13 hospitals and a host of physician practices in Illinois and Wisconsin. HSHS pointed to a host of financial difficulties in the closure of the two hospitals. HSHS pointed to a host of challenges, including fallout from the pandemic, inflation and staffing difficulties.

Some Wisconsin hospitals have also had to cut back on some services, including labor and delivery and behavioral health services.

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has just opened the application period for the new $50 billion program aimed at supporting rural hospitals.