Guest Column: Rural Healthcare Partnerships Fuel CEDA Awardees
By Marie Barry – Director of Community Economic Development, Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative
Reading through the annual CEDA Awardees is always an exciting experience as the projects coming to
fruition across Wisconsin highlight the creativity, tenacity, and local commitment that economic development embodies in our state. However, this year’s CEDA Finalists and Awardees also highlighted a unique theme in our state’s economic development landscape: the engagement of rural hospitals!
In this year’s CEDA Awardees, two of the category winners included deep involvement from local rural hospitals. In the Community Impact category, the Green County Home Construction Cooperative was launched when SSM Health Monroe Clinic donated a hospital-owned home to Green County Development Corporation in order to launch this new program. In the last Community Health Needs Assessment undertaken in Green County, housing was identified as the second highest priority item because “safe, affordable housing is imperative to the health of an individual and for a thriving community.” The improvement plan prepared to take action on this need asserts that the hospital’s vision is “to have available, affordable, accessible, and safe housing for all Green County residents.” Partnership with the Green County Development Corporation through the Green County Home Construction Cooperative allowed both organizations to take action on their goals of improving local housing conditions.
In the Business Retention and Expansion Category, Encompass Early Care and Education was recognized for drastically expanding the childcare availability in Oconto Falls, WI. Statistically speaking, the healthcare workforce is likely to be disproportionately impacted by childcare challenges due to the concentration of females in the workforce. According to the US Census Bureau, women hold 76% of all healthcare jobs. Women account for more than 85% of registered nurses. Post-pandemic, additional evidence shows that childcare is more likely to influence a woman’s employment decision than a man’s. For example, 51% of women indicated the cost of childcare was a consideration for their career compared to only 34% of men (Conroy & Runge, 2020). Therefore, it is highly logical that both HSHS St. Clare Memorial Hospital in Oconto Falls and Bellin Health Oconto Hospital in Oconto are supportive of this exciting development in their community. The HSHS St. Clare Memorial Hospital Foundation supported the project with a $10,000 donation and both organizations support local economic development activities with staff time dedicated to serving on local boards.
Finally, a rural hospital fueled one of the CEDA Finalists in the Talent Attraction, Development and Retention category: Grant Regional Health Center and Growing Lancaster. Growing Lancaster focuses on growing the local workforce through being more welcoming to immigrants and newcomers in the Lancaster community. Organic conversations between the hospital CEO and other local business leaders spawned this ongoing collaboration. The hospital serves as the lead organization in organizing meetings, acts as a fiscal agent on grants for Growing Lancaster, and has donated time and money to support the group’s activities. The group has started English Language Learner classes, organized cultural events, celebrated Welcoming Week, hosted workshops on translation resources for businesses, secured grant funding to boost local banking access and successfully seen an increase in the number of local businesses employing newcomers and immigrants to fill crucial workforce gaps.
Rural hospitals and economic developers have organically synergistic goals of strengthening communities in order to grow vibrancy, wealth and health. This year’s CEDA Awards provided a beautiful illustration of what can be accomplished when these organization work in partnership with one another with the ultimate winners being our Wisconsin communities and their residents!
