Two new Veterans Administration outpatient clinics at Rice Lake, Wis., and Hayward, Wis., have been closed, forcing the 900 veterans the clinics serve to seek care in Minneapolis, Chippewa Falls, Wis., or Superior, Wis.
New Wisconsin VA clinics close; patients' cases being transferred
December 13, 2007 at 4:36AM
The Minneapolis VA Medical Center said Wednesday it was making arrangements to care for the Wisconsin patients.
The clinics, called Community-Based Outpatient Clinics, provide primary and preventative care services -- but not emergency or urgent care.
The Hayward clinic opened in June and the Rice Lake facility opened in September. But Monday, the private firm running the clinics, the Kentucky-based Corporate Health and Wellness, shut them down.
Company CEO Mary Cheek told KQDS-TV of Duluth that Corporate Health wanted to keep the clinics open but needed changes in its contract with the VA. But Ralph Heussner, a VA spokesman in Minneapolis, told the station the VA is looking for new clinic space and planning to hire its own staff.
"VA is committed to maintaining patient care in western Wisconsin, and patient care will not be compromised due to the failure of the contractor," said Steven Kleinglass, director of the Minneapolis VA Medical Center.
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