by TIM HUNDT
Sept. 30, 2026
VIROQUA, Wis. — The Viroqua City Council voted Tuesday night to approve a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Emplify Health, clearing the way for the organization to negotiate the purchase of up to 21.6 acres of municipal land in the Viroqua Business Park. The vote follows a dramatic sequence of events this year that began in March when Vernon Health and Emplify Health signed a letter of intent to explore what they called an affiliation with Vernon Health. That relationship ended in July when the Vernon Health Board of Directors voted to reject the proposed deal and remain independent, prompting Emplify to pursue a standalone campus. Vernon Health officials would later term Emplify’s attempt at a merger an attempted acquisition.
The effort to secure land in the business park has moved through several municipal steps in recent weeks. Evidence of Emplify’s interest first surfaced at a Viroqua Development Association meeting on September 3, where representatives met with local officials following a closed session. On September 23, the Viroqua Business Park Commission hosted an extensive public hearing where Emplify presented preliminary concepts for an estimated 80,000 square foot outpatient campus and answered questions from commissioners regarding local hospital impacts, travel patterns, and past service reductions.
Before city council members moved into closed session to negotiate the land agreement at the Tuesday, Sept. 29 meeting, multiple representatives and board members from Vernon Health stepped forward during public comment to explain their decision to decline the merger and urge city leaders to proceed with caution.
Vernon Health Board Chair Staci Kring explained that the board felt a deep responsibility to carefully evaluate the proposal when first approached, but ultimately drew a clear line between partnership and a total corporate takeover.
“The decision we ultimately made did not say no to a partnership,” said Staci Kring. “We said no to the ownership, the structure that was presented to us, and those are very different things.”
Kring emphasized that the proposal evaluated by the board involved a complete change in governance that would have created a nine member board with five members appointed by Emplify Health and four selected locally, effectively stripping away local decision making.
“Our board never said those relationships should end,” said Kring. “In fact, we believe rural healthcare requires them.”
Kring urged city officials to consider whether constructing a second facility addresses genuine community gaps or simply duplicates existing resources.
“What do patients need that they cannot access today,” said Kring. “What services and infrastructure already exist.”
Peter Hughes, a Vernon Health board member with 38 years of healthcare executive experience who previously served as chief planning officer for the Mayo Clinic Health System, addressed rumors that the rejection was driven by administrative self interest. He stressed that the choice was the result of exhaustive analysis and professional guidance.
“This was not the decision of one individual,” said Hughes. “It was the decision of the board of directors.”
Hughes explained that responsible governance requires evaluating long term risks rather than taking the easiest path.
“In my experience, responsible governance is not about making the easiest decision,” said Peter Hughes. “It is about making difficult decisions, asking difficult questions, evaluating long term impacts.”
Board member Ann Marty, who practiced as a rural family physician in the region for 31 years, explained that the board spent months examining data with outside consultants before trusting their professional judgment.
“The Vernon board is a very diverse group, and we are passionate about healthcare in this community,” said Marty. “Ultimately, it was our gut instinct that this is what was right for our community.”
Pastor Michelle Engh, who serves Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Viroqua and sits on the Vernon Health board, emphasized that health encompasses broader community needs beyond clinic walls.
“The decision was not about closing the door to future collaboration,” said Engh. “It was about a specific governance and ownership proposal.”
Vernon Health public relations manager Labecca Schott spoke as a local mother, asking municipal leaders to consider what kind of healthcare system will remain for future generations.
“Just because another building is constructed does not automatically create another nurse,” said Schott. “And more square footage does not automatically create more access to care.”
Following public comment, the city council convened in closed session to negotiate the specific terms of the Memorandum of Understanding. The resulting document outlines a comprehensive framework for property acquisition in Tax Increment District Number 7 at the south end of Venture Drive.
MOU Not a Land Sale
The Memorandum of Understanding serves as a temporary, nonbinding agreement designed to give Emplify ninety days to conduct site research, engineering studies, and cost estimates while committing the city not to sell the designated parcels to another buyer. The agreement specifies that neither party is bound until a formal, 20 year development agreement is negotiated, approved by the Business Park Commission and the Viroqua Development Association, and officially executed by the City Council.
Under the terms of the agreement, Emplify Health has the option to purchase Lot 2 consisting of 6.5 acres for $438,303, Lot 3 consisting of 4.4 acres for $296,697, and Lot 6 consisting of 10.7 acres for $441,000. The precise combination of parcels will be finalized in a future development agreement.
The agreement includes strict development requirements and property tax protections. Emplify must deliver a $15,000 earnest money deposit to a title company within 20 days of approval, which will be applied toward the final land purchase price. The developer must commence construction of the facility, parking areas, access drives, and stormwater systems within 365 days of acquiring the property. To protect city finances, the agreement establishes a guaranteed annual tax increment revenue requirement, stipulating that if the actual tax payment falls below the agreed threshold, Emplify must pay a deficiency payment in lieu of taxes within 60 days.
Mayor Krista Browne framed the MOU approval as a step that allows the city and the developer to explore questions about a possible change—not as a final answer about what healthcare in the community will look like. She said the agreement is needed to study how separating Vernon Health and Emplify into different facilities could affect services and access to care.
“Approving an MOU is necessary in order to explore and get answers to the questions that council has, and that the community has about what the change means for Vernon Health and Emplify to no longer be in the same building,” said Browne. “How does that change services? How does that change our healthcare access?”
Browne said the next phase can provide more concrete information about what a new facility might mean for patients and the services offered. In her view, those questions could not be answered until the developer had an opportunity to study the proposal.
“Now that they have an MOU, they can actually invest into studying what it means to have a building there, and then what are those services,” said Browne. “What does the patient expect…?”
The broader issue for Browne is whether the community can retain reliable, quality care close to home as healthcare providers consider changes. She said both major providers still want to serve the area, though their arrangements may look different. Browne said she is trying to deliver on what she promised constituents.
“I want to build staying power,” said Browne. “I want us to have reliable quality services close to home. I want us to be able to live here. Right now the two major healthcare providers still want to be here, and that’s going to look different. But they still want to be here, and I believe we all still want care close to home, and that our community aligns with those organizations’ goals of care close to home and patient-centered care.”
Browne did not say the city was unable to reject the proposal. She said council had considered what it would mean to turn down a private company seeking to buy land in the business park, and she viewed rejecting it before getting answers as risky:
“I think that that would be not only harmful to healthcare here, but harmful to the ability for Viroqua to be a hospitable place for business. And there’s a lot of risk in saying no before you have questions opened for discussion and actually have a developer able to answer those questions.”
— Viroqua Mayor Krista Browne,
She added that the developer could not provide tangible answers about the project until it knew whether it had the opportunity to pursue the sites. In her view, the MOU made it possible to begin that exploration.
Browne described public input as an important part of the process, saying residents can share what they have experienced, noticed or want from local healthcare. She encouraged people to contact council members or attend meetings where the issue is on the agenda.
“That is what this process is for,” said Browne. “That is what trusted leadership and the local government process is for, and we need to lean into that and trust that this process will work if we, in fact, show up and share what we experience and notice and want. That’s how it works. That could look like emailing them (healthcare providers of city representatives), scheduling meetings with them, calling them, and coming to committee meetings where this is on the agenda, and/or council meetings where this is on the agenda to share your input and feedback because we will listen.”
Browne also addressed the 90-day term, saying it should not be read as meaning the opportunity ends if the parties have not reached a development agreement by then. She said the process should continue to move efficiently, given the importance of healthcare and the changes under consideration.
“If we don’t reach a development agreement in 90 days, that doesn’t mean that we won’t reach one,” said Browne. “This is not something we’re going to be waiting for a year to have the next information on. This is something that will be continuing to move efficiently, and not urgently, but efficiently because people need healthcare.”
For the period of transition, Browne said she understood that the providers did not want patients to be left without care.
“And I think what I’m understanding in our communications with them is they don’t want to leave anybody without care in the interim,” said Browne.
Emplify representatives provided a preliminary mockup rendering illustrating how the proposed campus might look along the northern gateway into the city. City officials emphasized that the visual rendering is highly preliminary and subject to full review by the Viroqua Plan Commission, which will enforce strict architectural facade materials, green space, and perimeter landscaping standards.
As municipal processes move forward, local residents face a rapidly shifting medical environment where two established healthcare entities could continue to partner, or end up competing directly in a town of 4,500 residents. Whether this transition leads to broader specialty choices or strained local resources will depend on the actions taken by both institutions in the months ahead.
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