CHIPPEWA VALLEY COOPERATIVE HOSPITAL OPENS MORGUE FACILITY FOR CHIPPEWA COUNTY

Nov 12, 2025

Partnership Restores Essential Services Lost After HSHS Closure, Saving Chippewa County Time and Money

CHIPPEWA FALLS, WI –  November 12, 2025  –  The Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative announced today that it is providing the morgue facilities in its Chippewa Falls Cooperative Hospital facility to Chippewa County, restoring a critical public service that was lost when Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS) closed St. Joseph’s Hospital in 2024.

Under the agreement, the morgue in the basement of the reopened Chippewa Falls Cooperative Hospital will serve as the official county morgue, operated and maintained by the Cooperative as part of its mission to serve the community. The Cooperative is providing morgue services to the County at no cost.

When they purchased the former St. Joseph’s Hospital, Cooperative board members reached out to Chippewa County to offer the use of the hospital’s morgue facilities. The move eliminates storage and transportation costs and restores timely, local access to an essential service.

 Partnership With Chippewa County

“This partnership reflects the spirit of the Cooperative,” said Robert Krause, Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative board chair. “When HSHS closed, our community lost more than hospital beds, it lost a wide array of vital services that people and government depend on. Our mission is to restore or improve as many of those services as we can, partnering with the community and local organizations and agencies to serve the greater Chippewa Valley region.”

The morgue will be operated in cooperation with the Chippewa County Coroner’s Office and is equipped to receive, hold and release the deceased for autopsies, investigations and funeral arrangements as needed. The facility was opened effective October 1st.

When HSHS ceased operations last year, the county was left without a local facility to receive and store the deceased. Since then, Chippewa County has contracted with Altoona-based Stokes, Prock & Mundt Funeral Chapel for these services.

“Having a local morgue again means faster response times, lower costs and less travel for families in moments of grief,” said Chippewa County Coroner Ron Patten. “We’re grateful to Stokes, Prock & Mundt for stepping in to fill the gap, and now to the Cooperative for stepping forward and volunteering their facility for the good of the entire county. This partnership brings back an essential service that our community relied on for decades and ensures we can continue to serve our residents with dignity and compassion.”

Krause added that partnerships like this one are central to the Cooperative’s community-first approach.

“We believe healthcare should serve the community, not the other way around,” Krause said. “This is just one way we hope to contribute to the whole region.”

 About the Cooperative

The Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative is a community-owned healthcare organization accountable to the people of Chippewa Valley and dedicated to providing accessible, affordable, and high-quality medical services to residents of the Chippewa Valley region. Any resident in the 18-county Chippewa Valley region at least 18 years old can join the Cooperative here.

The Cooperative bought the former St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chippewa Falls to operate while they build a modern hospital strategically located in Lake Hallie. The Cooperative is a Wisconsin Chapter 193 cooperative and a registered 501c3 tax-exempt nonprofit organization. More information at www.chippewavalleyhealthcooperative.org.

 

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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.