Marshfield Clinic Health System to suspend surgical services at Stevens Point campus
STEVENS POINT – Surgical services will be suspended by the end of the year at the Marshfield Medical Center-River Region Stevens Point Campus.
John Gardner, Marshfield Clinic Health System’s director of communications, told the Stevens Point Journal Thursday the surgical services will be suspended starting Dec. 29 after the company reviewed resources and services offered at the Stevens Point location.
Patients will still be able to access the physicians based in Stevens Point, but the procedures will be performed in facilities with better access to more resources and a broader spectrum of care, he said.
“We are working closely with patients and staff to transition as efficiently as possible,” he said. “We continuously review our staffing and services and will determine when we may offer surgical services in Stevens Point in the future.”
All of the other departments at the Stevens Point facility will continue services as usual, including the emergency department, urgent care, family practice, cancer center, more than two dozen specialty services and other resources, Gardner said.
No staff positions were eliminated, he said.
“When it comes to providing health care services in rural communities, especially in today’s environment, it requires organizations to continually review and adjust what and how care is delivered,” Gardner said. “Our patients expect that from us, so it’s vital we focus on how we can best meet the evolving needs of our patients and in the communities we serve.”
Marshfield Clinic makes other changes in central Wisconsin
Marshfield Clinic Health System recently closed its Marshfield Clinic Stettin Center. Gardner said the facility was about one mile from its Marshfield Clinic Wausau Center, a much larger facility with more resources available. Most family medicine providers, heart failure improvement staff and physical therapists already transitioned to the Wausau Center earlier this fall, while a couple of providers and staff members moved to Marshfield Medical Center-Weston, he said.
With this facility closure and staff shift, Marshfield Clinic Health System aimed to offer more comprehensive services, specialty care, imaging and pharmacy services at larger medical campuses in the same area.
No services or employee positions were reduced or eliminated at this site, Gardner said.
In Wisconsin Rapids, the Marshfield Clinic Health System hospital is still not open six months after it was projected to begin seeing patients.
The company broke ground on the hospital facility at Marshfield Medical Center-River Region at Wisconsin Rapids last May at the existing clinic site, and construction was set to be finished in May of this year. In January, Gardner said the hospital would start seeing patients June 25.
“With the current challenges in rural health care, we’re reviewing our timelines to determine our opening date,” he said. “We look forward to expanding the level of care we’ve provided to the Wisconsin Rapids community for decades.”
Gardner said Marshfield Clinic Health System would announce plans for the hospital's opening as they develop further.
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This article originally appeared on Stevens Point Journal: Marshfield Clinic Health System to suspend surgeries in Stevens Point
