about

The Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative is a nonprofit organization dedicated to patient-centered care that will have a positive long-lasting impact on our community’s health for generations to come.

The Cooperative was formed on February 29, 2024, just six weeks after HSHS announced that it was exiting Western Wisconsin and closing two hospitals and 19 healthcare clinics. The original Board of Organizers moved quickly because they recognized the significant health care gap that HSHS would leave, and based on the experiences from other rural area communities which have lost hospitals and medical care, they knew if they waited to see “what the fall out was” that it would be too late to organize and fill the critical care gap that was about to emerge.

 

Mission

Our mission is to build a new model of high-quality, lower-cost health care – governed by our community, for our community.

 

SERVICE AREA

The Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative accepts members 18 years and older from all of the 18-county region in around the Chippewa Valley including:

  • Barron
  • Buffalo
  • Burnett
  • Chippewa
  • Clark
  • Dunn
  • Eau Claire
  • Jackson
  • Pepin
  • Pierce
  • Polk
  • Price
  • Rusk
  • Sawyer
  • St. Croix
  • Taylor
  • Trempealeau
  • Washburn

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The Board of Directors consists of nine members, six community directors elected by the Community Members of the Cooperative, and three physician members elected by the Medical Professional Members of the Cooperative.

Robert Krause

Robert “Bob” Krause, Board Chair 

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Patti Darley, Vice Chair

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Kyle Dettbarn, MD 

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Erik Dickson

Erik Dickson, MD

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Peter Hoeft

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Mickey Judkins

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David Nelson

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Eric Rygg

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Kamal Thapar

Kamal Thapar, MD, PhD., FRSC, FAANS, FCNS

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Kamal Thapar

Kamal Thapar, MD, PhD., FRSC, FAANS, FCNS

is widely respected by patients, their families, and their doctors. Dr. Kamal Thapar has served the region for more than two decades. He maintains one of the largest private neurosurgical practices in Wisconsin and provides the full spectrum of advanced neurosurgical care. Dr. Thapar has held leadership roles at Marshfield Clinic, Sacred Heart Hospital, and Chippewa Valley Orthopedics. He specializes in minimally invasive and reconstructive spine surgery, brain tumor surgery, pituitary tumor surgery, and skull base surgery.
Erik Dickson

Eric Rygg

President of 4th generation Silver Spring Foods and Huntsinger Farms, lives in Eau Claire with his wife and three children. Among his volunteer community service, Eric has served as Host and Executive Committee member for the 2021 Wisconsin Farm Days, and currently serves on Eau Claire Confluence Arts/Pablo Center, and the Culinary Advisor Committee for Chippewa Valley Technical College. He earned his BA from Middlebury College, and an MBA, Food Marketing from Saint Joseph’s University – Erivan K. Haub School of Business.
Erik Dickson

David Nelson

Retired after 30 years as a health system finance administrator with five national and regional health systems and five years in public accounting focused on healthcare companies. Dave Nelson dedicated his career to not-for-profit organizations providing health services for local communities. Active in the community, he has served on numerous nonprofit and private boards of directors, including as the Past Chair and Emeritus Board member of the American Red Cross of NW Wisconsin. He is also Disaster Assistant Director for the Red Cross, responding in leadership roles to over 25 disasters.

Erik Dickson

Mickey Judkins

is the CEO of Details, Inc. and a recognized business and entrepreneurial consultant. She has served on many boards in the Chippewa Valley and Madison, including as President of the Eau Claire Economic Development Corporation, and as a director of the Eau Claire Chamber of Commerce board. She also served on Business Forward’s Local Leadership Council in Washington, D.C., working to bring the small business perspective to the President’s policy making. She was active on the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Advisory Board for Chancellors Mash and Levin-Stankevich. In 2007, Governor Jim Doyle appointed Mickey Executive Director and Administrator of the Investment and Export Division of the Wisconsin Department of Commerce. She graduated magna cum laude from UW-Eau Claire with a BA in Sociology. She lives in Eau Claire with her husband Jeff Rochon.

Erik Dickson

Peter Hoeft

is CEO and Owner of Hoeft Builders Inc, a 40-year-old construction management firm he has led for the last 20 years. Raised in Eau Claire, Peter attended Regis High School, where he met his wife, Jill; they have twin boys. Peter has served on many community boards including Chippewa Valley Airport Commission (current), WNB Bank (current), Children's Museum of Eau Claire, Eau Claire Chamber of Commerce, and the Eau Claire Area Economic Development Committee. He holds a B.S. in Construction Management from Colorado State University.

Erik Dickson

Erik Dickson, MD

has provided medical care to the people of Chippewa County for more than 25 years, his entire career has been dedicated to this community. As a family medicine physician at OakLeaf Clinics in Chippewa Falls and medical director for our Urgent Care locations in Chippewa Falls, Eau Claire, and Menomonie, I’ve worked on the front lines of local healthcare—helping families through everyday challenges and urgent needs alike. I also work as a first responder and EMS Medical Director in Chippewa County. In addition to my clinical practice, I serve as the medical director for several area nursing homes, where I work closely with our senior population to ensure continuity, compassion, and dignity in care. My affiliations with organizations such as the American Academy of Family Physicians and the National Association of EMS Physicians reflect my deep commitment to best practices and physician leadership. I am board-certified in Family Medicine with the American Board of Family Medicine.

Robert Krause

Kyle Dettbarn, MD

has called the Chippewa Valley home for more than two decades. Since moving here in 2003, he has served this community as a physician specializing in pulmonary, critical care, internal medicine, and sleep health. Today, he serves as Board President of the Oakleaf Medical Network—a network that has remained committed to patient-focused care for over 30 years.

Robert Krause

Patti Darley

Vice Chair
retired, from Xcel Energy’s Customer Service Department and before that Cray, Inc.’s Technical Training Department. Patti is a long-time resident of Chippewa Falls, and is well known for her volunteer service in the community. She has been an elected or appointed member of the board of directors of HSHS St. Joseph’s and Sacred Heart Hospitals, the Community Foundation of Chippewa County, and Give Chippewa County, as well as in many other volunteer organizations. She has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Marquette University.
Robert Krause

Robert “Bob” Krause

Board Chair

is a retired technology company business owner, an active Partner in Musky Tank, LLC, and an investor in many start-up companies in Western Wisconsin. He has extensive boardroom experience having served on many non-profit and private boards of directors, including Sacred Heart Hospital, YMCA, the Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Eau Claire Inc., Chippewa Valley Angel Network, Regis High School Foundation, and the Medical College of Wisconsin (development), among many others. A Certified Public Accountant, Bob is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He resides in New Auburn, WI