Welcome to the Eau Claire Chamber Blog

​The Alliance offers network savings and access for self-funded employers

For employers who self-fund their health benefits, The Alliance represents network savings and access, solved.
The Alliance is a not-for profit cooperative of more than 240 organizations who self-fund their health plan through our extensive network of providers in Wisconsin, northern Illinois and eastern Iowa. Member organizations range in size from 60 to 8,700 employees, with an average of about 400 employees.
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The Alliance was founded in 1990 by seven Madison-area employers looking for solutions to their rising health care costs. Together, they created a cooperative that continues to take aim at the health benefit issues dragging down the bottom line.
Today, members save an average of 39 percent and buy $780 million in health care in a 12-month period.

Expanding Network of Providers in Your Area
The Alliance network is a flexible platform that allows employers to innovate and customize based on their priorities and needs. Our approach varies by region because each community is unique.
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Within the Chippewa Valley we have more than 75 health systems to offer organizations in that area for their health care benefit needs. The Alliance network includes:

• HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital
• Marshfield Clinic
• HSHS St Joseph’s Hospital
• Prevea Health‘s Western Division
• OakLeaf Surgical Hospital
• And many more.

Overall, The Alliance network includes about 120 hospitals, 500 chiropractic clinics, 10,000 doctors and 5,500 medical clinics. To view a full list of in-network providers, visit the-alliance.org and click on Find a Doctor.   

​Alliance Membership Benefits 
The Alliance also offers employers:

• Educational Events: Training and insights to create better health benefits and better health for your employees.
• Bundled Pricing & Steerage: Opportunities to steer employees to high-quality care for surgeries and tests with bundled pricing and warranties through QualityPath® and other network providers, including Twin Cities Orthopedics in Minnesota and NOVO Health in Appleton, Wis.
• Vendor Partnerships: Strategic partnerships – for pharmacy, dental, vision, workers’ compensation and more – add value to your health benefits.
• Flexibility: You can design a plan to match the needs of your employees and your organization.
• Support: A dedicated team of self-funding experts are available to answer your questions and guide you to self-funding success. 

Kyrah Klika at WESTconsin Credit Union has been recognized by CUNA’s Credit Union Magazine as one of its 2018 Credit Union Rock Stars. Klika is the vice president of the Chippewa Valley office for WESTconsin Credit Union. This year’s winners were all nominated by their colleagues and selected by the editorial staff of Credit Union Magazine. All told, 46 professionals representing 26 states are being honored as this year’s Credit Union Rock Stars. Klika and the other winners will each be profiled in the October issue of Credit Union Magazine, sponsored by Fiserv. For the full list of 2018 Credit Union Rock Stars, visit news.cuna.org/rockstar.
 
Paul Keprios recently joined Associated Bank.  He is the second senior commercial relationship manager the bank has added to its team.  He will office out of 1107 Regis Court on the second floor. Keprios has 13 years of commercial banking experience. 

Nohre & Co. recently announced that Seyver Nohre has joined its team. Seyver earned his master’s degree in accounting from the University of St. Thomas and began his professional career in 2015 at a Big Four Firm in the Twin Cities with a focus on financial services including REITs, hedge funds and reinsurance companies.  He also has experience in the areas of accounting, corporate and individual taxation, and attestation services. Seyver then continued his career with a high tech installation company as procurement that performed services in more than 10 states. Seyver will be part of the insurance and construction/real-estate teams within the Nohre & Co. organization.  He will be providing tax, A&A, and consulting services to those industries. 

Royal Credit Union (Royal) has named Melissa Wilson vice president of marketing and business development. She is responsible for overseeing branding and driving market strategy for Royal. Wilson will develop and lead the marketing and business development teams to create and implement programs, products, campaigns and initiatives to drive increased engagement with new and existing members. Wilson brings more than 10 years of experience in marketing and management roles. Most recently she served as marketing and communications manager at Chippewa Valley Technical College (CVTC). Prior to that role she was a marketing specialist at CVTC. She has provided marketing and branding management freelance services for many organizations over the past several years and is also the owner and creator of Melnaturel, a natural handmade skincare line based out of Eau Claire.
 
​Larry Lutwick, M.D., F.A.C.P, recently joined Mayo Clinic Health System in Eau Claire in Infectious Diseases. Lutwick received his medical degree from SUNY Downstate Medical School, State University of New York in Brooklyn. He completed a residency in internal medicine at Washington University School of Medicine, Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. He also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in infectious disease at Stanford University School of Medicine in Palo Alto, California. He served on the faculty of SUNY Downstate Medical School and Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine in Kalamazoo. He is a fellow and member of the American College of Physicians and Infectious Diseases Society of America. He also is a member of the International Society for Infectious Diseases. His professional research interests include the study of antimicrobials, emerging pathogens, hepatitis B virus and vaccines.

The Partners of HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital received the American Hospital Association’s Hospital Awards for Volunteer Excellence (HAVE) by the Association for Health Care Volunteer Resource Professionals. The Partners received this national award for the group’s work to ensure local people in need have fresh food on their tables via the community garden at HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital, which is run entirely by volunteers. Already in 2018, growers have donated more than 2,700 pounds of fresh food to local pantries. In total since the program began in 2013, more than 5,000 pounds of fresh produce have been donated to food pantries.
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The Partners of HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital also were awarded the Wisconsin Hospital Association’s statewide Wisconsin Award for Volunteer Excellence (WAVE) under the category of Community Service. The award is in recognition of the babysitting clinics the Partners have organized for the past 45 years to help pre-teens learn the skills needed to take care of an infant or child. Approximately 1,500 adolescents have been trained in the Chippewa Falls community in safe babysitting skills over those 45 years. This is the third WAVE award the Partners has earned.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwestern Wisconsin along with more than 270 Big Brother Big Sisters affiliates across the country, unveiled a new, modern look and brand repositioning with a goal of recruiting more diverse volunteers. The organization is intentionally pivoting from messages of the importance of mentoring, to messages of the urgent need for the adults in the community to step up to defend the potential of every child. The mission will remain the same, as will the core model of building bridges in communities by connecting one adult with one child and supporting that match at every stage, but the organization will focus on a child’s potential, and our role as adults in helping children achieve their best possible futures. In the coming year, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwestern Wisconsin will transition to a new, modern, nationwide technology system, participate in new training, and use the new positioning to refocus efforts on recruiting local volunteers.

​Congratulations to BMO Harris Bank on the opening of their "Smart Bank" branch on Water St. Technology and convenience is what people want and this bank has it. I encourage you to check out the modern feel of this branch!

The Aging & Disability Resource Center of Eau Claire County (ADRC) staff is celebrating 10 years serving Eau Claire County! Located at 721 Oxford Ave we are easy to find; our office is right off the main entrance. Encourage anyone to come and visit!

Our mission is to help people age 60+ and adults with disabilities secure needed services or benefits, live with dignity and security and achieve maximum independence and quality of life.

The Aging & Disability Resource Center (ADRC) is a grant program through the Federal Department of Health & Human Services Administration on Aging, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid and the State of Wisconsin Department of Health Services. The grant program was developed to assist states in their efforts to create a single, coordinated system of information and access for all persons seeking long-term care support to minimize confusion, enhance individual choice and support informed decision-making.

​There are no income requirements to utilize the services of the ADRC. ADRC's assist anyone age 60 and over as well as adults age 18-59 with disabilities. ADRC services are also available to family members, friends, caregivers and professionals working with these populations.

Visit ADRC's website
ADRC on Facebook

The incredible ADRC staff is knowledgeable on a wide array of resources including:

• Information, assistance and long-term care options
• Counseling
• Information about housing, transportation, supportive home care and much more
• Payment options including public funding
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​The L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library Board of Trustees is moving forward with its renovation and expansion plans to increase group-study and collaborative spaces, and improve overall accessibility of its downtown location with a philanthropic Campaign-Readiness Study to assess the strategy and feasibility of raising $11.5M in private funds for its proposed $23M library expansion project. The City of Eau Claire’s proposed Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) Budget includes $11.5M towards the project over three years: $1M in 2018 for technology, facility, and furnishing upgrades; $2M in 2019 for renovation design work and additional upgrades; and $8.5M in 2020 for facility systems upgrades in relation to the renovation and expansion. The tax implication is estimated to cost the owner of a home valued at $150,000 an additional $9/year in property taxes for 20 years in 2019.  The additional $8.5 million included in the CIP for 2020 will cost the owner of a home valued at $150,000 an additional $30.50/year in property taxes for 20 years.  Thus, the total for the project is $39.50/year for 20 years for the owner of a home valued at $150,000. The current study, led by Crescendo Fundraising Professionals, LLC, will identify philanthropic interest and capacity, the area’s financial climate, volunteer leadership interest, and the importance community residents place on the expansion to continue improving area quality of life.                                        
HSHS Sacred Heart and St. Joseph’s hospitals named Kandy Ebert as director of environmental services for both hospitals. Ebert started her career at St. Joseph’s Hospital as manager of the environmental services department. She began her new role at the hospitals September 24. Ebert has a long career serving health care organizations, having successfully led many departments including environmental services, food service, and information systems at other organizations. 

HSHS Sacred Heart and St. Joseph’s hospitals are among a select group of hospitals nationwide recognized for promoting enrollment in state organ donor registries in a national campaign sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Since launching in 2011, the campaign has added more than 443,000 donor enrollments to state registries nationwide. The hospitals conducted awareness and registry campaigns to educate colleagues, patients, visitors and community members about the critical need for organ, eye and tissue donors and, by doing so, increased the number of potential donors on the state’s donor registry. The hospitals were awarded Gold recognition through the HRSA Workplace Partnership for Life Hospital Campaign.

HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital’s Sleep Disorders Center recently received program accreditation from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM). To receive accreditation, a sleep center must meet or exceed all standards for professional health care as designated by the AASM. These standards areas such as personnel, facility and equipment, policies and procedures, data acquisition, patient care, and quality assurance.  Sacred Heart Hospital’s Sleep Disorders Center’s sleep technologists work with a team of physicians who are board certified in sleep, pulmonary, critical care and internal medicine. The center identifies and treats more than 84 different sleep disorders, including common conditions such as obstructive sleep apnea, insomnia, restless legs syndrome, periodic limb movement disorder, narcolepsy and more.

Junior Achievement of Wisconsin, Inc. received $15,000 grant from Nordson Corporation to support continued Junior Achievement efforts to provide programming to local middle school students in Chippewa Falls and Eau Claire. These grant dollars will help Junior Achievement continue to reach students at three local middle schools as well as expand the programming to other middle schools, especially local rural schools. The Junior Achievement Career Exploration programs equip students by teaching them about work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy. The goal is to provide career exploration opportunities throughout our communities. The Nordson Corporation’s investment in Junior Achievement of Northwest Wisconsin will help Junior Achievement provide Career exploration programming to area students as well as help area schools in their efforts to meet Department of Public Instruction mandates that expect all middle school students to have a career plan and access to career exploration.

Notifier, the largest manufacturer of engineered fire alarm systems, has presented LVC with the Million Dollar Award at its annual conference held this week. LVC has earned this and other awards over the years, due to high sales volume and exceptional service of Notifier products. LVC, a fire protection company and systems integration company, is one of the largest distributors of Notifier products in Minnesota. Since 1994, LVC has been regularly recognized by Notifier winning awards including the Million Dollar Award, President’s Circle Award, and Diamond Distributor Awards.

Yvonne Pierpont, M.D., recently joined the Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery Department at Mayo Clinic Health System in Eau Claire. Pierpont received a medical degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. She completed a plastic surgery residency and a research fellowship in surgery at Morsani College of Medicine at the
University of South Florida in Tampa. Pierpont also completed a fellowship in facial plastic cosmetic and reconstructive surgery at Clevens Face and Body Specialists in Melbourne, Florida. For the last 10 months, Pierpont provided contracted plastic surgery services at Mayo Clinic Health System in Eau Claire.

​Congratulations to Steve and Linda Otto and the rest of the team on their Grand Opening of Signarama on Hastings Way - located between Queens Laundromat and SEEK Careers/Staffing. Welcome to Eau Claire!

October is Co-op Month
Eau Claire Energy Cooperative engages members and the public
Since the first member home and farm was energized in 1938, Eau Claire Energy Cooperative has encouraged Co-op consumer-members to be engaged in their co-op and the communities they live in. They currently do this through many programs including energy efficiency incentives, Focus on Energy, Evergreen and MemberSolar programs as well as their elected Board of Directors, volunteer Member Advisory Council and high school Youth Ambassador Program.
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In addition, every two years during the election cycle since 2002, Eau Claire Energy Cooperative has organized the Candidates Energy Forum which features a panel of area state legislative candidates. Sixteen Wisconsin State Senate and Assembly candidates from the surrounding Chippewa Valley have been invited to participate. The event is co-sponsored by Eau Claire Energy Cooperative, Eau Claire Chamber of Commerce, Eau Claire Economic Development Corporation and the Chippewa Valley Home Builders Association. It’s the cooperative way! Please join us at The Florian Gardens on Wednesday, October 3. Refreshments will be available and the public is invited.

The Chippewa Valley Free Clinic (CVFC) announced its purchase of a new facility to become its permanent medical home. The Clinic is currently making plans to move from its current downtown location at the Syverson Lutheran Home, 816 Porter Avenue, to a new location at 1030 Oak Ridge Dr., located in the professional medical area off Clairemont Avenue in Eau Claire. The clinic will be making light renovations before moving into the vacant 5,500 square feet on the top floor of the building.  The tenants in the building’s ground level will not be displaced.  In its new home, the clinic will grow from five exam rooms to six exam rooms, from two dental chairs to three dental chairs, improve the workflow for the Clinic’s staff and volunteers and offer the patients a more traditional clinic experience. The clinic, which provides basic health care to those who have no reasonable alternative, will conduct business as usual in its current location through mid-November. Pablo Properties, Commonweal Development Corporation and Market Family Investments are the purchasers of the Syverson Lutheran Home property and have generously assisted CVFC in its search for a new, permanent home and are among several generous donors working to provide a more secure future for the free clinic.

The Epilepsy Foundation of Western Wisconsin announced Debbie Nichols as the new executive director. Nichols comes to the Foundation with more than 20 years experience with leadership, advocacy and outreach. Nichols will lead various key initiatives, programs and outreach in 22 counties in Western Wisconsin. She replaces Lou Kelsey who retired in August after many years of dedicated service. A lifelong resident of the Chippewa Valley, Nichols has a bachelor’s degree in vocational rehabilitation from UW-Stout and an associate’s degree in counseling. During her career, Nichols has been instrumental in leading positive change and sustainability for agencies that provide long-term care and advocacy for people with intellectual, physical and acquired disabilities in the Chippewa Valley. 

Jordan Reed, D.O., recently joined the Emergency Department at Mayo Clinic Health System in Barron and Eau Claire. Reed received his doctor of osteopathic medicine degree at Des Moines University in Iowa and completed a residency in emergency medicine from the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City. He is board-eligible in emergency medicine. He is certified in basic life support, advanced cardiac life support and advanced trauma life support. His professional interests include emergency medicine, point-of-care ultrasound and teaching.

The American Culinary Federation (ACF) has approved the Chippewa Valley Technical College Culinary Management program’s state-of-the-art teaching kitchen as a practical test site for ACF certification programs. The ACF certification program is the most comprehensive certification program for culinarians, offering 16 certification levels. Culinarians achieve certification based on education, experience, and successful completion of written and practical exams. To become a testing site, a facility must have a specific set of equipment and work space for each candidate tested, plus a staging area. The site must also have a specified number of qualified certification evaluators.

Congratulations to Shillin Wealth Management on their beautiful new office in River Prairie.