EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WEAU) – Oakleaf Medical Network extended an offer to negotiate with HSHS to “purchase HSHS hospital properties with the intent of creating an independent community hospital.”
Dr. Kyle Dettbarn, Chairman of the Board of the Oakleaf Medical Network, said that Oakleaf Medical Network reached out to HSHS yesterday.
“After thorough and careful consideration of the serious healthcare situation, Oakleaf Medical Network reached out to HSHS yesterday with the hopes of entering into negotiations to purchase HSHS hospital properties with the intent of creating an independent community hospital,” Dettbarn said in the news release from Oakleaf Medical Network.
Further clarification on that statement revealed that the offer includes all HSHS and Prevea facilities affected by the closure.
Dettbarn said the lack of hospital beds for patients as a result of the shutdown makes it imperative that the shutdown does not happen.
Dettbarn said he considers the healthcare shutdown to be moving at lightning speed, putting people with demanding medical needs at risk. He believes Sacred Heart Hospital and St. Joseph’s Hospital together provide beds for about 150 in-patients daily.
Dettbarn said that between about 900 expected pregnancies, a significant need for dialysis beds and over 100 cancer patients needing treatment, the time for a community hospital is now.
“We need to keep these hospitals running. We need to keep these services available for these patients because if we do not, unfortunately, what this is going to do, it’s going to cost lives. We’re putting lives at risk here,” Dettbarn said.
This is a breaking development in the hospital shutdown story. We are reaching out to other hospital systems as well as HSHS-Prevea for their reaction. We’ll have their response in newscasts throughout the day, as well as here.
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Oakleaf Medical Network extends offer to purchase HSHS, Prevea
