Oct. 1, 2017, will mark an important milestone for Gundersen Health System and Moundview Memorial Hospital & Clinics in Friendship, Wis. That is when the two organizations will combine efforts and create the new entity Gundersen Moundview Hospital and Clinics.
Moundview Memorial Hospital and its Friendship and Westfield medical clinics will consolidate under common leadership and the Gundersen Moundview Hospital and Clinics name. There are no plans to reduce overall employment as a result of the agreement.
"We are extremely pleased to welcome Moundview Memorial as part of Gundersen Health System," says Scott Rathgaber, MD, Gundersen chief executive officer. "We are committed to extending our system of care to new communities in order to provide care to individuals as close to home as possible."
Gundersen vice president Bryan Erdmann adds, "Moundview Memorial has served the Adams-Friendship area well, and we are excited to combine our resources and efforts to further enhance the health and well-being of the community."
"Gundersen is a high quality, value driven, financially strong organization with a history of successful partnerships with critical access hospitals similar to ours," states Don Heinz, Moundview chief executive officer. "Additionally, their clinicians and staff are experts in developing new services in rural areas, including enhanced primary and specialty care."
With the partnership, Moundview will have four community representatives on Moundview’s new Board of Directors, providing significant influence in strategic and operational direction for the organization. Gundersen will appoint five directors to the Board.
Gundersen Moundview Hospital and Clinics will continue to welcome the same insurances Moundview currently accepts. Additionally, patients will be able to continue their relationships with their current clinicians.
Moundview consists of a 25-bed critical access hospital and the two medical clinics. The organization provides 24-hour emergency care, urgent care, inpatient and short-term rehabilitation care, diagnostic testing, surgical procedures, a full range of rehabilitation services, access to numerous specialty physicians and more.
To date, Gundersen has four regional hospital partnerships: Gundersen St. Joseph’s Hospital and Clinics in Hillsboro, Wis.; Gundersen Tri-County Hospital and Clinics in Whitehall, Wis.; Gundersen Boscobel Area Hospital and Clinics in Boscobel, Wis.; and Gundersen Palmer Lutheran Hospital and Clinics in West Union, Iowa.