Winneshiek Medical Center officials will hold upper level talks with Gundersen Lutheran Health Plan

Leaders of Mayo Clinic Health Systems and Gundersen Lutheran will sit down in the next 60 days to discuss whether Winneshiek Medical Center can accept patients with Gundersen Lutheran Health Plan without causing financial damage to the hospital.  Hospital officials are worried that Gundersen Lutheran would continue to decrease the number of patients sent to the hospital if Gundersen Lutheran Health Plan was admitted to the hospital as an in-network provider.

Chief Medical Officer Dr. Susan Halter will sit down with top Gundersen officials in La Crosse, as well as with officials of Mayo's Franciscan Health Systems.

The action by the Winneshiek Medical Center Board came after a lengthy discussion of the health insurance plan.  WMC Board President Ben Wyatt introduced a resolution to support WMC administrators in their decision not to accept GLHP into the hospital's in-network provider system.

WMC Board member Clark Goltz objected that the hospital board's agenda said nothing about voting on a resolution, only that a "discussion" would be held.  "I had no idea (this vote would be taken)," said Goltz.

Wyatt responded that "Either we support our administration or we don't."  WMC Board member Sherry Gribble urged a tabling of Wyatt's motion, saying "This issue has become so controversial in our community..if it's that controversial, don't we want to discuss this more?"

But the final vote approved Wyatt's resolution 5-1, with Gribble abstaining and Goltz voting "no."  However, the resolution contained an amendment offered by WMC Board member Rick Burras to instigate the negotiations between Mayo and Gundersen.