Western Wisconsin Senate race centers on $15 million that GOP kept from local hospitals

In early 2024 the Illinois-based Hospital Sisters Health System announced sudden closures of Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire and St. Joseph's Hospital in Chippewa Falls. The closures, effective March 21, 2024, cut local emergency department access, removed inpatient and outpatient services, and cost at least 1,400 jobs. Lawmakers had previously set aside funds that could have been repurposed quickly to address some of those gaps.

The 2023 state budget included $15 million earmarked to help Sacred Heart expand its behavioral health capital infrastructure. The money had not been spent at the time of the closures. Republican lawmakers developed legislation to reallocate the funds but attached narrow restrictions limiting use to capital expenditures for emergency departments.

Governor's veto and the fight over flexibility

Local providers asked Gov. Tony Evers for broader flexibility so the money could support a wider range of needs created by the hospital closures: urgent care, obstetrics, wound care, oncology, behavioral health and support for other regional hospitals that would absorb displaced patients. Evers used his partial veto power to allow that flexibility. Republicans publicly objected to the veto but did not have the votes to override it.

Joint Finance Committee refusal to release funds

Consequences in the Chippewa Valley

The withheld funds went unused during a period when hospitals and patients faced clear service gaps. Nearly two and a half years later, Aspirus Health opened a new hospital in Chippewa Falls, and the Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative began operating the old St. Joseph's building for oncology and wound care services while planning a new hospital in Lake Hallie. Those developments address some needs but came after extended service disruptions.

How the issue entered the Senate campaign

Why this matters for control of the Senate

Campaign messaging about the $15 million and how each side assigns responsibility will remain part of the race narrative. Voter reaction in communities affected by the closures — particularly on health care access and local economic knock-on effects — could influence turnout in the district and adjacent contests that together decide Senate control.