About Us
A community resource since 1962, Aspirus Medford Hospital & Clinics is a not-for-profit primary care health organization serving Taylor, Price, and Clark counties in northcentral Wisconsin. In addition to a 25-bed critical access, level III trauma care hospital, our organization includes five primary care clinic locations, two walk-in clinics, a specialist clinic, an oncology clinic, a retail pharmacy, two therapy centers, a public fitness center, a Kidney Care (dialysis) center, and a continuum of senior care services from assisted living to restorative nursing services. We employ nearly 650 people, making us one of the largest employers in our community.
Our organization partnered with Aspirus in 2001. Aspirus is a regional health care system serving 17 Wisconsin counties and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Through our collaboration with Aspirus, patients choosing Aspirus Medford Hospital & Clinics for their care have access to 350 Aspirus specialists and surgeons. Our medical staff includes local experts as well as specialists in cardiology, endocrinology, oncology, orthopedics, pulmonology, urology, and more who regularly travel to our Medford location to provide our community with easy access to specialty care. Aspirus Medford Hospital & Clinics is a satellite location of both the award-winning Aspirus Heart & Vascular Institute and the Aspirus Joint Replacement Center.
Our Journey of Excellence
At Aspirus Medford Hospital & Clinics, we have a passion for excellence and a compassion for people. Our promise is to provide an excellent place for patients and residents to receive care, for employees to work, and for providers to practice medicine. To help us live up to this promise, we embarked on a Journey of Excellence with the Studer Group in March 2008.
We continually strive for improvement to benefit both our patients and our employees. In fiscal year 2015, we completed a successful $16 million expansion project. It included a new birthing center, cancer & infusion services center, retail pharmacy, and welcome center as well as renovated emergency department, lab, imaging, and specialty clinic spaces. We also greatly expanded our services to provide in-house (rather than contracted) ultrasound and nuclear medicine, walk-in FastCare Clinic care in a section of our service area lacking easy access to health care, Video Remote Interpreting to benefit deaf and non-English-speaking patients and visitors, a Patient Centered Medical Home service department, and a variety of therapy and women’s health services, including infertility treatment. In addition, we became only the second health care facility in the country to upgrade to digital radiography, which generates x-rays in 3-5 seconds as opposed to 90 seconds via cassette reader. Through this all we maintained our patient-centeredness and continued to improve the patient experience and quality of care we provide. In fiscal year 2015, our patient experience scores ranked above the 92nd percentile in seven of nine categories, with all nine categories above the 86th percentile.
Back in December 2013 – when our name was Memorial Health Center – the Studer Group honored us as a Rural Healthcare Organization of the Month. Among the many accolades we’ve received since that time are:
- National Rural Health Association TOP 20 Critical Access Hospital (2015)
- iVantage Health Analytics Top 100 Critical Access Hospital (2012-2015)
- iVantage Health Analytics HealthStrong™ Hospital (2014-2015)
- CMS Hospital Compare 5-Star Hospital (2015)
- Alzheimer’s Association Wisconsin Chapter Network Outstanding Organization Award for skilled nursing facility Aspirus Care & Rehab (2015)
- Wisconsin Hospital Association’s Partners for Patients Gold Level Status (2015)
- Becker’s Hospital Review 100 Great Community Hospital (2014)
- Wellness Council of America (WELCOA) Gold Well Workplace Award (2014)
- Excellence Awards – Professional Research Consultants, Inc. (2014-2015)
- Overall Top Performer Award
- Inpatient Services – Communication about Medications
- 5-Star Excellence Awards
- Rachel Dixon, PA-C, MSPAS – Provider
- Kathy Hemer, MSN, FNP-BC – Provider
- Sandy Hoogland, PA-C, MPAS – Provider
- Susan Messerly, DO, FAAP – Provider
- Inpatient Services – Communication about Medications
- Inpatient Services – Communication with Nurses
- Inpatient Services – Discharge Information
- 4-Star Excellence Award
- Inpatient Services – Overall Quality of Care
While the above awards help confirm we’re on the right path, we feel the true reward for our Journey of Excellence is found in our patients, the care they receive, and the healing and joy we help make possible. It is stories like the one that follows that mean more than any award.
Our Miracle Babies
Patient Story
Click here to view a video of this story.
It seemed like a real-life fairy tale. Emily & Aemus Balsis met, fell in love, married, and hoped to start a family shortly after. The fairy tale, however, would prove to have a few bumps and require a lot of patience. After almost two years of trying to conceive children on their own with no success, they decided it was time to seek professional medical help.
After seeing Dr. Amy Falkenberg of Aspirus Medford Clinic, it was recommended the couple start infertility testing as soon as possible. The result: Emily and Aemus would not be able to conceive on their own. After a failed surgical attempt, they knew their next option was in vitro fertilization (IVF). Dr. Falkenberg prepared them for the procedure, which was performed in Minneapolis, MN.
It took several weeks to complete the IVF process of harvesting eggs, fertilizing them, and implanting the selected embryos. “We only had two healthy embryos, so we knew we were putting all our eggs in one basket,” Aemus says. “In vitro is very expensive so we knew we had one shot.” Seven weeks after the embryos were implanted, the couple found out both were healthy and growing. They were going to be parents.
Many months, ultrasounds, and hospital visits later, Emily was feeling very ready to meet her babies. “Throughout the entire pregnancy our goal was to make it to 35 weeks so I could deliver in Medford,” Emily says. “We made it – 35 weeks, 2 days.”
That’s when Emily had one of the most uncomfortable nights of her life, which she attributed to being eight months pregnant with twins. She woke up the next morning, went to the living room, sat down, and felt a gush. “I thought my water was breaking,” Emily says. “I immediately ran to the kitchen…it was more than just my water breaking [though]. I was standing in a pool of blood about four feet by four feet.” Terrified, Emily called her husband, family, and the ambulance.
“The second we walked into [Aspirus Medford Hospital], I was in their hands,” Emily says. “I was very emotional, very hysterical…so was Aemus. The second they hooked us up to the monitors and [we] could hear the heart tones and that they were normal, I instantly calmed down. Aemus instantly calmed down. And the staff just got us so relaxed.”
“Then, at that point, [it went] from possibly losing the children, losing my life, to we’re going to have these babies,” Emily says. “[Staff] reassured us that we didn’t [need] an emergency C-section. We just went in, took our time.” Aemus recalls watching his babies being born as an “amazing experience.”
The blood loss Emily experienced the morning of her delivery was the result of placental abruption, a potentially life-threatening condition for both her and her baby. Placental abruption is the separation of the placenta from the uterine lining. When this happens, it can interrupt the transportation of oxygen and nutrients to the baby. Only about 1% of all pregnant women will experience placental abruption.
Emily has rave reviews about the quality of care she received at Aspirus Medford Hospital. “The surgery part of it: awesome,” she says. “They made an experience that I would love to have again…and who can say that about surgery? They really felt like family. My stay there was awesome. I didn’t want to leave. All the nurses, doctors…I can’t say enough good things about them.” Today, twins Cason and Haven continue to grow, smile, and warm the hearts of their parents. Though the fairy tale didn’t go exactly as they had planned, they certainly got their happily ever after…times two.
Emily and Aemus Balsis of Medford say their twins, Haven and Cason, are their miracle babies.