Rural Wisconsin hospital expands obstetrics department thanks to government funding

As some surrounding birth centers are shuttering their maternity departments, a rural western Wisconsin hospital in a town of about 5,000 people is growing its women’s health and labor & delivery services.

Western Wisconsin Health (WWH) in Baldwin has added three labor and delivery rooms, plus four medical surgical rooms.

Wisconsin’s US Senator Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat, worked to secure $1 million towards the expansion from this year’s annual funding legislation. 

“Each senator has funding that they can allocate to a variety of services, generally in the realm of agriculture and health care,” WWH CEO Eilidh Pederson said. “As we saw this crisis emerging and arriving on our doorstep, we applied for this special funding.”

“It’s a bipartisan funding award, akin to a grant. It’s delivered by the US Department of Agriculture, but a senator has to endorse it and approve it, and then it goes through all chains of government for final approval. It was critical to allow us to expand our labor and delivery department.”

Years ago, Western Wisconsin Health served primarily those who lived in St. Croix County. Now, Pederson says, people are coming from throughout the region, particularly the much larger city of Eau Claire, where Hospital System Health Sisters closed  Sacred Heart Hospital earlier this year.

“We’ve seen an increase of about 10% of our patient population coming from those areas,” Pederson said. “It’s easier to define in our obstetrical services—for example, where we’ve seen a pretty dramatic increase.”

“Last year we delivered 280 babies. This year, we’re projecting 400 deliveries.”