WESTON — Marshfield Clinic Health System announced its plans this week to substantially buy all assets and related operations of Ascension St. Clare’s Hospital in Weston, as well as Ascension Wisconsin’s interest in The Diagnostic & Treatment Center in Weston and Flambeau Hospital in Park Falls.
Ascension Wisconsin and Marshfield Clinic Health System anticipate completing the transaction in spring 2020.
“This decision was made with the best interests of our patients, communities and associates in mind in the context of the rapidly evolving healthcare landscape in Wisconsin and nationally,” said Bernie Sherry, senior vice president, Ascension, and ministry market executive, Ascension Wisconsin, in a news release. “We will continue to keep patients and families top of mind as discussions continue.”
“Our goal has long been to create an integrated medical campus in Wausau that will allow us to provide the highest quality care close to home for our patients, families and communities,” Marshfield Clinic Health System CEO Dr. Susan Turney said in the release. “With the opportunity to acquire St. Clare’s, we would be able to bring this integrated model to Wausau more quickly than anticipated, and we would not move forward with previously announced plans to build a new hospital.”
Ascension St. Clare’s anchors the Weston Regional Medical Center, which opened in 2005. The Diagnostic & Treatment Center is a co-owned service of Ascension and Marshfield Clinic Health System and offers a range of advanced diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical services.
Marshfield Clinic and Ministry Health Care, which later joined Ascension Wisconsin, entered into a joint sponsorship agreement in 1994 to operate Flambeau Hospital, a 25-bed critical access hospital.
The two health systems previously reached an agreement that led to Marshfield Clinic Health System’s 2017 acquisition of what is now known as Marshfield Medical Center-Marshfield.
