OakLeaf opens four clinics in western Wisconsin, plans urgent care services in Chippewa Falls

OakLeaf Clinics is expanding across western Wisconsin to fill gaps in critical health care services left by the closures of HSHS St. Joseph’s, HSHS Sacred Heart and Prevea Health locations in the region.

OakLeaf Clinics has hired physicians and other health providers to staff four new clinics in Cornell, Ladysmith, Menomonie and Rice Lake. The clinics will open by May 13, according to an OakLeaf release sent Wednesday. The group of physicians also plans to add future urgent care services in Chippewa Falls.

Additional physicians have been added at OakLeaf’s facilities in Chippewa Falls and Eau Claire. OakLeaf Clinics hired Dr. Steve Steinmetz who will join the Family Medicine practice at OakLeaf Clinics Chippewa Falls, and Dr. Victoria Vande Zande, who will join the internal medicine practice in Eau Claire.

“In a rapid move to ensure that patients in Barron, Chippewa, Dunn, and Rusk counties have access to the high-quality health care services they’ve counted on in their communities despite HSHS exiting the region, OakLeaf Clinics will open new clinics, ” the release states. “OakLeaf Clinics has hired Prevea physicians, nurse practitioners and medical staff in these cities to serve patients throughout the extended four county area so existing patients of these providers can keep their healthcare with the physicians, nurses and staff they already trust.”

OakLeaf Clinics is the largest clinic of independent physicians in the OakLeaf Medical Network. With the new clinics, OakLeaf Clinics will have 11 clinics.

The new OakLeaf Clinics will open between May 1 and 13, with three moving into existing Prevea clinic locations.

“Local access to high-quality health care is critical for communities to thrive,” said President of OakLeaf Clinics Dr. Chris Longbella. “We moved quickly to fill the health care needs in these communities with talented providers with deep connections to their communities and help ensure a seamless continuity of care for patients no longer able to access the HSHS/Prevea system.”

OakLeaf’s expansion is part of a trend of health related services that are popping up across western Wisconsin in response to the HSHS and Prevea closures. Marshfield Clinic Health System announced at the beginning of March that it will add urgent care services at Marshfield Clinic Lake Hallie Center to help address the expected influx of patients seeking emergent and urgent care services in the Chippewa Valley.

Lake Hallie Center is located between Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls off of Highway 53. The clinic is expanding urgent care access in the region for injuries and illnesses, like minor cuts that need stitches or ear infections, that are not life threatening but need care fast .

Marshfield Clinic Health System has also worked to expand same-day access across all its clinics in western Wisconsin. This includes primary care locations in Eau Claire, but also reaches communities such as Ladysmith, Rice Lake, Chippewa Falls, Menomonie and Cornell.

The announcement came about one year after Marshfield Clinic Lake Hallie Center told the public it would discontinue urgent care services after May 19, 2023.

The OakLeaf Medical Network is committed to stabilizing access to comprehensive health care services throughout the region, the release states. Urgent care services are planned to be added in Chippewa Falls in the near future.

“OakLeaf Clinics is maintaining all services offered previously by these doctors and nurse practitioners and will be evaluating additional programs and services for the future. Each new clinic will also offer OakLeaf Direct, a high-value primary care program with personalized health care services for employers seeking to improve the overall health and wellness of their employees,” the release states.

Once the health care providers and clinics are part of OakLeaf Clinics, the physicians will be independent, and can recommend the best course of care for each of their patients within or outside of the network. Each clinic can choose to participate in community activities at its own discretion, without administrative approval, the release states.

OakLeaf Clinics, the largest clinic in the OakLeaf Medical Network, has 11 divisions providing primary and specialty care in Eau Claire, Chippewa Falls, Cornell, Ladysmith, Menomonie, Rice Lake, and outreach clinics in Altoona, Amery, Baldwin, Black River Falls, Cumberland, Shell Lake, Stanley and Turtle Lake.

OakLeaf also offers the Buffalo River Clinic, Chippewa Valley Anesthesia Associates, Chippewa Valley Eye Clinic, Chippewa Valley Eye Clinic Chippewa Falls, Chippewa Valley Neurosciences, Chippewa Valley Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, Confluence Healthcare, DeFatta ENT & Facial Plastic Surgery, Diagnostic Radiology Associates, Eau Claire GI Associates, Evergreen Surgical, Foot and Ankle Clinic, Hesse Foot & Ankle Clinic, Interventional Pain Specialists of Wisconsin, Medical X-Ray Consultants and Merrick Plastic & Hand Surgery.

It has over 350 medical providers including 130 physicians with 40 specialties working across 31 clinics in 15 counties. Over 35,000 primary care patients are served by OakLeaf Medical Network providers.

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