With rural health care delivery facing challenges nationwide, a unique coalition involving UW-Eau Claire, The Mayo Clinic and a Chicago-based group that has built health innovation hubs in the United States and beyond will announce an ambitious project Thursday, May 23 during a luncheon produced by the Wisconsin Technology Council.
The Rural Health Innovation Alliance, which aims to transform the Chippewa Valley into a rural health-care “epicenter” through establishment of testbeds, microsites and other ways to reduce barriers to innovation, will be announced during a Tech Council Innovation Network luncheon on the UW-Eau Claire campus.
The luncheon will be held at the UW-Eau Claire Davies Center, 77 Roosevelt Ave., Ojibwe Room. Registration begins at 11:30 a.m., lunch at noon and the presentation at 12:30 p.m. The cost is $25 for individual members, $10 for students and returning veterans, $35 for general admission and included for Tech Council corporate members. It is produced by the Tech Council with support from UW-Eau Claire and Momentum West.
Speakers will include Ken Bahk and Kate Merton of the Chicago ARC, an organization that improves health equality by accelerating innovative solutions in health systems and the communities they serve. A reaction panel will follow with participants from UW-Eau Claire, The Mayo Clinic, Marshfield Clinic Health System, health-care startups and others.
“The goal is to include global innovators, community members, healthcare providers, regional government and others in finding solutions to rural health care challenges,” UW-Eau Claire Chancellor Jim Schmidt said. “The Alliance will attract, support and grow global solutions for health care in the Chippewa Valley while becoming a model for other rural communities.”
“Health care in rural America is challenged by a mix of demographics, economics and other structural barriers, not the least of which is one-size-fits-all regulation that most systems can’t afford,” said Tech Council President Tom Still, who will moderate. “By creating an innovation district in the region, new ideas and practices may emerge.”
The Tech Council is the independent, non-profit science and technology adviser to the governor and Legislature, with events, publications and outreach that build Wisconsin’s tech-based economy. To join, go to www.wisconsintechnologycouncil.com or call 608-442-7557.
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