EAU CLAIRE — With the closures of healthcare facilities throughout Western Wisconsin, some clinics have gotten a second chance with a new organization.
On May 1, two of four new OakLeaf Clinics locations opened their doors in Ladysmith and Cornell. The two clinics have not only been started in the same space as previous Prevea Health locations but also have kept their same employees.
To maintain each team and location, OakLeaf Clinics had to reach out to people individually and acquire the leases for the buildings, said a spokesperson with the OakLeaf Medical Network. It was not a “traditional acquisition.”
According to an HSHS press release announcing the updated closure time of the HSHS Sacred Heart, most Prevea Health locations in Western Wisconsin were closed by April 21. The locations that are still open are Prevea Western Wisconsin Residency Clinics and their location at the University of Wisconsin-Stout which are reported to continue until June 30.
One clinic that has been established in the former Prevea Health location is OakLeaf Clinics Cornell at 320 North 7th Street in Cornell, Wisconsin. According to a press release announcing the Cornell location, Kelsey Meyer, a nurse practitioner who has worked in Cornell for more than seven years, and her team will continue to practice out of the former Prevea location.
“I am very excited for the expertise and resources Oakleaf Clinics will provide to our community,” said Meyer in the Cornell press release. “We are very thankful we can continue to care for our community.”
A spokesperson for OakLeaf Medical Network said the Cornell location has added to its original space and will include new services like lab work and hosting OakLeaf Medical Network specialists.
The new Oakleaf Clinics Ladysmith is made up of Dr. Joel DeKrey, Dr. Samantha Runstrom, Nurse Practitioner Amanda Crabb, and their staff, according to a press release announcing the opening of the Ladysmith location.
The clinic is also working out of a former Prevea location at 1101 Lake Avenue West, in Ladysmith Wisconsin. The space was leased to OakLeaf Clinics through a unique series of events.
John Kalepp, the Rusk County board of supervisors chair, said the county and its citizens were concerned about losing the Prevea facility. The location was used by a lot of people when it was owned by Prevea.
The county decided to do something about it and bought the building, the land, and more land next to the facility, Kalepp said. OakLeaf wanted to use the building and the county leased it to them for five years.
Kalepp said he thought the decision to buy the space was a good one that helped everybody.
“We are excited to move forward as independent physicians within OakLeaf Clinics where we can freely recommend the best healthcare options to meet the needs of our patients both inside and outside of the OakLeaf Medical Network, “ said Runstrom in the Ladysmith press release.
Runstrom said they are especially excited to care for their patients within the clinic and support the community.
“With their personalized and holistic approach to their patients’ health, the doctors and staff of the Ladysmith Clinic are a perfect extension of OakLeaf Clinics,” said Dr. Chris Longbella, president of OakLeaf Clinics.
The clinic, according to the Ladysmith press release, will offer the same services as the Prevea clinic. Clinics with the OakLeaf Medical Network will also provide additional outreach services including Endocrinology, General Surgery, and Cardiology at the location.
OakLeaf Clinics has 11 clinics, including the four new locations, and is the biggest clinic in the OakLeaf Medical Network, according to the Ladysmith press release. The OakLeaf Medical Network is the biggest “independent physician association in Western Wisconsin.”
The two clinics are not the only ones OakLeaf Clinics is establishing in the next couple of weeks. OakLeaf Clinics Menomonie will open on May 6, and its new clinic in Rice Lake will open on May 13.
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