Asking state to award $4 million in grant monies to MHLC

By Kayla Barnes

Published: Jun 17, 2021, 2:27 PM

MADISON – Rep. Todd Novak (R-Dodgeville), Memorial Hospital of Lafayette County COO Molly Wiegel, Dr. Martin Cleary and Lafayette County Hospital Committee member Jed Gant were all present to testify before the Assembly State Affairs Committee in favor of Assembly Bill 390, authored by Novak, Rep. Travis Tranel (R-Cuba City), and Rep. Tony Kurtz (R-Wonewoc). The bill is asking to direct $4 million of the federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to MHLC for facility planning expansion and construction.

The bill also asked to direct $11 million in grants to support emergency medical services over a two-year period and to award $400,000 in grants for improvements to the city of Reedsburg community center.

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 is a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill passed in March 2021 to assist in the United States’ recovery from the economic and health effects of COVID-19. It provides funding for several areas such as child care, schools, agriculture, mental health, science research and development, COVID-19 testing, treatment, and prevention, tribal government services, and health care providers in rural areas.

Wiegel shared background information on MHLC’s current project and how they came to the point they are today. She touched on the economic impact the hospital has on the county and requested assistance in the further research needed for the project.

Gant gave the committee a history of MHLC and the county structure. Dr. Cleary shared his experiences with providing care in an older facility and tied it to COVID patients and how a new facility would have assisted MHLC better. The committee was very moved by Dr. Cleary’s words and thanked him for “painting a picture of what it was like (during COVID) to care for patients”.

“I sincerely thank each of you for taking the time to consider how Bill 390 will significantly and positively impact the future of Memorial Hospital of Lafayette County, as well as the nearly 150 employees whom we feel blessed to have working on behalf of over 16,600 residents,” MHLC CEO Kathy Kuepers wrote to the committee.

Kuepers addressed how not only will the $4 million grant to MHLC help the hospital in their replacement facility planning process but also the $5.5 million in grants in fiscal year 2021-22 and another $5.5 million in grants in fiscal year 2022-23 to support emergency medical services will also significantly and positively impact Lafayette County due to the newly formed and critically important EMS department.

“The funding provision in Bill 390 will help us deliver on our promise to provide exceptional patient care in an environment that is safe for our physicians, nurses, and all those who provide direct and indirect patient care. The provision for emergency medical services will also provide us with much-needed infusion of financial support for our first, county-owned EMS department, which directly responds to Lafayette County on the verge of losing this service altogether,” Kuepers wrote.

The service is ready to go live on July 1.

The request for funds is to cover the expenses not covered by the actual construction project, Wiegel explained. It will be used for the research portion of the project.

Rep. Novak joined with Kurtz and Tranel to “identify the items directly affecting our southwest Wisconsin districts and had those items included in a clean standalone piece of legislation.”

“The need to upgrade or replace the hospital is real,” Novak stated in an email to the Republican Journal. “MHLC notes that closing their facility would result in an even higher risk to individuals in the area suffering negative health outcomes.”

Novak added that rural EMS are struggling and this bill would make a real difference to help settle a variety of expenses like medical equipment and tools, safety devices and radios.

“As a state representative, I'm always looking for ways the state can assist communities & counties in the 51st Assembly District,” Novak stated. “I see so much money directed to urban areas that I think it is important to fight for rural Wisconsin.

On Tuesday, June 15, the billed passed the Assembly State Affairs Committee and will now be taken up on the full Assembly floor.

It was quite an election

On April 1

Election Results_April 1, 2025 Crawford County

GILLIAN POMPLUN

Crawford County Independent & Kickapoo Scout

Published: Apr 2, 2025, 5:05 PM

Politics-weary Wisconsin citizens mustered the verve to once again go to the polls in Wisconsin’s April 1 spring election. With record spending, a barrage of campaign literature in mailboxes, chaos on the federal level, and an endless stream of divisive TV advertising, voters on both sides turned out in record numbers to support the candidates of their choice.

Happy or sad, it’s likely the vast majority is just glad it’s over. While most spring elections draw much lower turnout than a presidential election, voter turnout in this year’s race was on par with last November’s contentious election in which Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris for the office of President of the United States.

Of course, the Wisconsin Supreme Court election took top billing, garnering record amounts of spending. Conservative versus liberal control of the court was on the line with the retirement of liberal justice Ann Walsh Bradley. Contending for the 10-year term were Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel and Dane County Judge Susan Crawford.

The race was called for Crawford around 10 p.m. after Schimel called her to concede. The unofficial results show Crawford winning with 55% of the statewide vote to Schimel’s 45%.

Crawford County voters bucked recent electoral trends, carrying for the liberal candidate. In the county, Crawford took 51% of the vote, defeating Schimel with 49%. Crawford’s candidacy also prevailed in Vernon County with 54% of the vote, Richland County with 52% of the vote, La Crosse County with 63% of the vote, Sauk County with 57% of the vote, Iowa County with 62% of the vote, and Green County with 58% of the vote. Crawford’s victory was propelled by massive turnout and majorities in Dane, Milwaukee, Rock, Eau Claire and Bayfield counties. Voters in Dane County cast 82% of their votes for Crawford, in Milwaukee County 75%, in Rock County 61%, in Eau Claire 63%, and in Bayfield 61%.

Schimel’s campaign prevailed locally in Grant, Lafayette and Monroe counties, earning 52%, 51%, and 55% of votes cast respectively.

Incumbents prevail

It was also a night for incumbent candidates to prevail in races pertaining to public education in the state. Incumbent Wisconsin State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jill Underly won her race against charter school advocate Brittany Kinser, taking 53% of the statewide vote to Kinser’s 47%.

Locally, Underly outperformed Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford, winning her contest in counties that carried for Waukesha County judge Brad Schimel. Those counties include Grant and Lafayette counties, where Underly took 52% of votes cast. Kinser held on to votes cast for Schimel in Monroe County, taking 56% of votes cast.

Underly’s candidacy prevailed in Crawford, Vernon, Richland, Iowa, Sauk, and La Crosse counties. In those counties, Underly took 53%, 54%, 56%, 61%, 57%, and 61% respectively.

Mirroring the results in the statewide Superintendent of Public Instruction race, incumbent candidates Jerry Coleman and Charissa Richter prevailed against challengers Jesse Swenson and Melany Jelinek winning two three-year terms on the North Crawford School Board.

Coleman was the top vote-getter, with 660 votes, followed by Richter with 532 votes. Richter and challenger Melany Jelinek ran neck-in-neck for much of the night until results came in for the villages of Gays Mills and Bell Center, which pushed Richter over the finish line ahead. Jelinek finished with 502 votes, and Swenson with 412 votes.

Coleman took the most votes in the towns of Clayton, Haney, Scott, Utica, and in the villages of Bell Center, Gays Mills, and Soldiers Grove. Richter took the second most votes in the towns of Clayton, Haney, Scott, and Utica, and in the villages of Gays Mills and Soldiers Grove. Jelinek took more votes than Richter in the town of Freeman, and in the villages of Bell Center and Mt. Sterling.

Voter ID

Voters across the state voted to amend the Wisconsin Constitution to require photo identification to vote. The measure failed only in Dane and Milwaukee counties. Wisconsin had already required voters to show identification, but passage of the Republican-backed ballot question will make it harder for that requirement to be removed by the courts or the state legislature.

Statewide, the measure passed with 63% of the vote, with 37% of the voters voting against it.