WISCONSIN — Several weeks after HSHS and Prevea announced plans to close two hospitals and multiple medical facilities in and around Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls, Eric Borgerding, the president and CEO of the Wisconsin Hospital Association, said communities are making slow progress to fill the upcoming health care void.
"The dust is settling a little bit," Borgerding said. "There's no question there will be disruptions to the normal patterns of care and what people are used to and have expected for many, many years."
Borgerding said that while other health care providers in western Wisconsin are doing their best to step up and increase their own capacities for care, it can be a slow process.
"There's no doubt this is a significant challenge," Borgerding said. "I give a lot of credit to those health systems for really ramping up as quickly as they can."
Watch the full interview above.