WAUSAU, Wis. (WXCO) – Aspirus Health is ramping up services, increasing beds and hiring, as a merger with St. Luke’s Medical is weeks away.

Due to the pending permanent hospital closures in the Chippewa Valley, Aspirus Health says that they are moving quickly to increase their capacity for patients who need health care services.

“You think of the area we live in, this is housing for so many jobs in the area,” said one at the rally. “How many nurses, housekeepers, providers, nurse practitioners are out of a job now. I mean Mayo can’t absorb it all, Marshfield has had rumors, I’m not really sure where to go.”

With State Highway 29 connecting Eau Claire and Wausau easily, Aspirus has inpatient and surgical facilities available at Stanley and Medford, where they are now adding 14 more beds.

There are also clinics taking new patients in Gilman, Medford, Owen, Stanley and Thorp. Click here to find a location near you.

While here in Wausau, they are enhancing the care center to take more referrals and specialty services.

“We understand how important it is for people to have excellent, compassionate health care when they need it,” said Matthew Heywood, President and CEO of Aspirus Health. “We serve communities along the eastern edge of the Chippewa Valley and are moving quickly to safely increase our capacity to support patients seeking health care services.” 

They are also building additional labs, imaging and wound care within hospitals and clinics.

Aspirus announced that they are accelerating recruitments, as well.

Aspirus Health is also weeks away from finalizing an affiliation with St. Luke’s in Duluth, Minnesota. Which would even further expand access to care across the region. The combined organization would operate 19 hospitals and 130 outpatient locations with nearly 14-thousand team members, including 13-hundred employed physicians and advanced practice clinicians.

Meanwhile, the Marshfield Clinic Health System has announced that the Marshfield Medical Center in Eau Claire will more than double its labor and delivery beds.

HSHS and Prevea plan to close a majority of their facilities in the Chippewa Valley by April 21st, and expect to close all of their locations by June 30th.