Western Wisconsin hospitals are in line to receive $15 million in state funding to support health care access under a bill signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Tony Evers after the announced closure of two major hospitals in the region.
But Republican leaders immediately pledged to block the funding for anything other than the bill’s original intent after the governor used his powerful line-item veto authority to expand how and where the money could be spent.
Rep. Mark Born, who co-chairs the Legislature’s budget committee, said he has no intention of releasing the money after the Democratic governor vetoed language limiting the area where the funds could be spent to Chippewa and Eau Claire counties, where the soon-to-be-closed hospitals are located.
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Officials with Hospital Sisters Health System’s St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chippewa Falls and Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire, as well as all Prevea Health locations in western Wisconsin’s Chippewa Valley, last month announced plans to begin laying off employees on March 22 and permanently close the facilities about a month later.
Earlier this month, legislative Republicans approved grant funding to pay for emergency department capital expenses at hospitals in Chippewa and Eau Claire counties to help mitigate the impact of the impending closures. The proposal essentially repurposed $15 million originally approved in the state budget for capital improvements at Sacred Heart Hospital — funding that has not been used.
The measure passed the Senate on a 30-2 vote, but Sen. Jeff Smith said in a statement earlier this month restricting the funds to only capital expenses “will do more harm than good if signed into law.”
“We shouldn’t unnecessarily constrain our community during this crisis,” said Smith, D-Brunswick.
Democratic lawmakers in the Assembly proposed amending the measure to address the state Department of Health Services’ request to broaden the area covered under the bill to include the entire western region of the state and expand what services funds could be spent on. That proposal was rejected by Assembly Republicans.
But when Evers signed the bill on Thursday, he used his line-item veto power to essentially accomplish the same thing, expanding the proposal’s scope to cover more broad health care needs, including urgent care, OB-GYN services, inpatient psychiatry and mental health substance use services. The governor’s partial-veto also expands the area covered under the proposal to include all 18 counties in the state’s western region.
Evers said in a statement the changes were made “to ensure more flexibility so these critical resources can be used for any hospital services to meet the health care access needs of the Chippewa Valley region, no matter what they may be.”
“It’s been clear in my visits to the Chippewa Valley region and my conversations with community leaders that the impacts of these recent closures do not end at hospital emergency doors — these closures are affecting access to critical health care services across the board, and we have to be responsive to these challenges to meet Wisconsinites’ and communities’ needs,” Evers continued.
Sponsor wants closures addressed
Rep. Jesse James, R-Altoona, applauded the bill’s signing in a statement, noting “the timeline was tight, but with a little perseverance, we were able to get it across the finish line.”
James, who co-authored the bill, said he was concerned that Evers’ partial veto “excessively expands the scope and uses of the funds.”
“We need to ensure the money remains in the area and goes towards the needs and services most impacted by the HSHS closures,” James said.
The law authorizes the Legislature’s budget committee to allocate up to $15 million in grant funding to be directed to hospital services provided in the state’s western region, with priority placed on hospitals in Eau Claire and Chippewa counties.
Evers urged the committee to approve the funding “to help stabilize and support health care access across the Chippewa Valley region, and to do so without delay.”
In a statement Thursday, Born offered harsh criticism of Evers’ expansions to the proposal.
“It is unbelievable Governor Evers would veto funding that was intended to support emergency services in Chippewa Falls — a community which just lost its last hospital — to allow it to be used in any of 18 counties,” Born said. “The committee will not support a proposal that redirects the funding from this high-need area to anywhere in Western Wisconsin.”
In a joint statement, Chippewa Valley Republican Reps. Rob Summerfield, of Bloomer; Clint Moses, of Menomonie; Karen Hurd, of Fall Creek; Warren Petryk, of the Town of Washington; Trieg Pronschinske, of Mondovi; Donna Rozar, of Marshfield; Dave Armstrong, of Rice Lake; and James Edming, of Glen Flora, criticized the governor’s partial veto, which they said creates “a slush fund that won’t guarantee these funds are used to help the needs of the Chippewa Valley.”
The lawmakers said they will work with the budget committee and DHS “to ensure that this money will be used for its original intent which is to provide emergency services for Chippewa Valley services.”
Closures affect 1,400 employees
Hospital Sisters Health System, a faith-based health system with operations in Illinois and Wisconsin, said last month the permanent closures are part of a “complete exit from the western Wisconsin region.”
The closures affect nearly 1,100 HSHS and 325 Prevea staff and physicians. The organization said it will provide support services and career transition assistance, including the potential to seek positions elsewhere in the organizations, if available.
According to the American Hospital Association, 136 rural hospitals closed between 2010 and 2021, as well as a record 19 closures in 2020 alone. More than 600 rural hospitals — 30% of all rural hospitals in the country — are at risk of closing, according to the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, because they do not have adequate revenue to cover the cost of the care provided.