Eau Claire Plan Commission Approves Site Plan for Marshfield Clinic's Cancer Center
Wednesday, October 19th, 2016 -- 6:32 AM
(Mike Warren, WDLB) -The Eau Claire Plan Commission on Monday approved the site plan for a new Marshfield Clinic Health System cancer center, which the Clinic said it was moving ahead with back in June.Last night’s approval came after nearly an hour’s worth of debate, centered mainly around concerns raised by Sacred Heart Hospital that the new center will fail to address the region’s significant treatment needs for mental health and alcohol and drug abuse. The debate attracted an overflow crowd that spilled into the hallways of the Eau Claire Council chambers. Despite the concerns over the new facility, Plan Commissioners said the Clinic’s new center meets site plan regulations, and fits in with Eau Claire’s comprehensive plan, so they had no grounds to reject it.
The new facility is slated to open next year at the site of The Plaza Hotel & Suites along West Clairemont Avenue. The Clinic’s Eau Claire plans were announced in June, about the same time the Clinic was also scrapping plans to build a new hospital in Marshfield. Marshfield Clinic Health System is calling this its new “Caring for the Chippewa Valley” plan to build a hospital with attached cancer care on land the clinic has purchased near its Eau Claire campus. Chief Strategy Officer Dr. Narayana Murali says owning and operating a state-of-the-art hospital in Eau Claire is an important move that allows the organization to offer the highest level of care locally while gaining more control over the cost and quality of care it has provided in the community for more than two decades.
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