Ministry responds to Clinic’s statements about partnering on a hospital
Says media reports led organization to believe negotiations were over
By Adam Hocking
Editor
MARSHFIELD — Ministry Health Care issued a statement to Hub City Times on Wednesday in response to several questions posed about the situation unfolding between Ministry and the Marshfield Clinic and specifically about Marshfield Clinic’s recent statements that it has offered to build its planned new hospital in partnership with Ministry.
In the statement, which was jointly provided by Ministry Saint Joseph’s Hospital President Brian Kief and Ministry Health Care President and CEO Daniel Neufelder, the organization stated that it was in the process of discussing the Clinic’s proposal when, “We read in the media Marshfield Clinic was moving ahead with its own hospital, which we concluded meant that our negotiations were over.”
Ministry did not have specific comment on whether or not it would be open to the idea of partnering with Marshfield Clinic to build a new hospital in Marshfield. Marshfield Clinic Executive Director Dr. Narayana Murali said Tuesday evening that the offer to partner on the new hospital was made by Marshfield Clinic about four weeks ago and that Marshfield Clinic is awaiting a response.
Ministry did, however, reiterate its position that opening a second hospital in Marshfield would be detrimental to the community.
“We do not believe opening a second hospital is the right decision. This decision will divide and hurt the entire community,” the statement said.
Ministry also acknowledged the uncertainty surrounding the situation between itself and Marshfield Clinic.
“We understand there are many questions surrounding this announcement. Will there be enough doctors? Will services be moved? Will there be enough nurses? At this point we do not have all the answers,” the statement said.
The release from Ministry concluded by saying, “We remain steadfast in our commitment to this community. Our commitment will clearly be different given these announced plans by Marshfield Clinic. As Marshfield Clinic proceeds with its plans, know that we will proceed and find the safest, most logical approach to providing continued high-quality health care services for Marshfield and all of Wisconsin.”
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