Eau Claire Mayo Clinic Breaks Ground on Expansion Project

Mayo Clinic Health System officials broke ground on an expansion project for the Eau Claire hospital’s emergency department this week.

The ground breaking ceremony took place on Thursday thanks to a $14 million donation from the Menard family. The expansion seeks to mitigate some of the additional stress placed on the emergency department following the closure of HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire two years ago.

Since the HSHS closures the remaining healthcare facilities in the Chippewa Valley have struggled to keep up with the increased demand for their services. Chippewa Falls residents in particular have struggled to access healthcare at all following the closure of St. Joseph’s Hospital, with the next closest emergency department half an hour away in Eau Claire.

The expansion project at Mayo Clinic Health System will add over 10,000 square feet of space in the three story building. It will include new patient treatment areas with a centralized nursing station, advanced monitoring, and improvements for patient privacy. Construction work is scheduled to officially begin next month, with the goal of minimizing any disruptions to the hospital’s current operations.

In addition to the expansion project at Mayo Clinic Health System, plans for new hospital facilities in Chippewa Falls and Lake Hallie are also underway. The Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative is also in the process of reopening the St. Joseph’s Hospital facility, expecting to offer a full range of services by the end of the year.

The new Aspirus Health Hospital in Chippewa Falls is also expected to fully open in September after hitting a significant construction milestone earlier this month.