COOPERATIVE CARE. The Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative has brought its services to the former St. Joseph's Hospital in Chippewa Falls, which is serving as the cooperative's interim facility while it builds its future hospital in Lake Hallie. (Photo via Facebook)

In just the past month, the Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative (CVHC) has been awarded close to $1 million through the combined support of several charities and organizations, all in support of CVHC’s plans to reopen the former St. Joseph’s Hospital facility.

Following several back-to-back announcements in November, CVHC shared another significant update in a Dec. 9 media release: an expected date for the Chippewa Falls facility’s return to full services.

“The hospital expects to reopen as a full-service hospital (emergency intensive care unit, labor & delivery, surgical, and medical hospital bed services, among others) by summer 2026,” the release stated.

In the same announcement, CVHC shared it had received a combined $750,000 award from the Rutledge Charities and the Casper Foundation, bolstering the cooperative group’s ability to offer more services at its interim facility

“Rutledge Charities and the Casper Foundation want to help take care of the needs of our present population and allow Chippewa County residents access to affordable local health care,” Jerry Jacobson, trustee for Rutledge Charities and Casper Foundation, said. “My many years in Chippewa Falls have shown me how a local hospital can improve a community through more than medical needs and allow a community to grow.”

Currently, CVHC is operating a cancer center, advanced wound care and the Chippewa County morgue out of what was the St. Joseph's Hospital. Its end goal is to open a community-owned nonprofit hospital situated in Lake Hallie; an earlier update from the cooperative pointed to spring 2026 as the timeline for groundbreaking on the new facility.

The Lake Hallie hospital aims to open in 2028 with plans to offer 24/7 emergency and intensive care services, a modern surgical unit, obstetric and labor and delivery services, cardiac care and more. Any individual ages 18 and up who is a resident within the wider 18-county region can become a CVHC member for a one-time membership fee of $25.

More information about CVHC and its plans for the future Lake Hallie hospital (rendering pictured) can be found online.

Volume One, alongside other local media, has continued to report on the ripple effects of HSHS Sacred Heart and St. Joseph’s hospitals abrupt 2024 closures. Among those individuals, organizations and efforts which have aimed to fill the healthcare gap left behind, CVHC is the only one to pursue a cooperative, nonprofit solution.

Learn more about and keep up with the Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative online at www.chippewavalleyhealthcooperative.org and on social media.