In 2022 Mayo Clinic Health System in Southwest Wisconsin continued to participate in a unique collaboration to provide free medical care to uninsured residents of the region. Two nonprofit organizations, operating as St. Clare Health Mission, operate free walk-in clinics utilizing dedicated space on the Mayo campuses in La Crosse and Sparta. The program in La Crosse now also offers a mobile medical clinic, which launched in August of 2022 and experienced 278 patient visits during the year.
The Health Mission model utilizes unpaid volunteers including physicians, nurses, social workers, lab technicians and pharmacists, who provide care to qualifying patients at no charge. Mayo supports the Health Mission services in collaboration with other organizations including Gundersen Health System. Both medical facilities provide volunteers and serve on the boards of the Health Missions, and both accept referrals to extend free care to those requiring services beyond what the Health Missions can provide.
In 2022, the Sparta-based program experienced 154 patient visits. The La Crosse-based program experienced 1,318 clinic visits.