About Mayo Clinic Health System in La Crosse

Starting as Western Wisconsin's first hospital in 1883, Mayo Clinic Health System in La Crosse continues to put the needs of our patients first as we deliver safe, high-quality patient care to the 7 Rivers Region.

Today we are part of a respected network of community-focused hospitals and clinics that serve Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. More than 1,500 physicians and 1,000 specialized care providers — nearly 16,500 staff in all — collaborating on bringing you the best care possible.

Living the Mayo Clinic mission

• Mission — To inspire hope and contribute to health and well-being by providing the best care to every patient through integrated clinical practice, education and research.
• Vision — To provide an unparalleled experience as the most trusted partner for healthcare.
• Primary value — The needs of the patient come first.

Value statements

These values, which guide Mayo Clinic's mission, are an expression of the vision and intent of our founders, the original Mayo physicians and the Sisters of Saint Francis:

• Respect — Treat everyone in our diverse community including patients, their families and colleagues with dignity.
• Compassion — Provide the best care, treating patients and family members with sensitivity and empathy.
• Integrity — Adhere to the highest standards of professionalism, ethics and personal responsibility, worthy of the trust our patients place in us.
• Healing — Inspire hope and nurture the well-being of the whole person, respecting physical, emotional and spiritual needs.
• Teamwork — Value the contributions of all, blending the skills of individual staff members in unsurpassed collaboration.
• Excellence — Deliver the best outcomes and highest quality service through the dedicated effort of every team member.
• Innovation — Infuse and energize the organization, enhancing the lives of those we serve, through the creative ideas and unique talents of each employee.
• Stewardship — Sustain and reinvest in our mission and extended communities by wisely managing our human, natural and material resources.

Our history

In 1883, the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration built St. Francis Hospital in La Crosse. It was western Wisconsin's first hospital and symbolized the Sisters' pioneering vision of caring. Indeed, the Sisters' mission to heal was and still is the same mission that guided their patriarch, St. Francis of Assisi, 700 years before. Fundamental to their caring philosophy is their belief in caring for the whole person — body, emotions and spirit — and to do so with dignity and compassion.

Skemp Clinic was founded in 1923 by Dr. Archibald Skemp. His brothers, George and Fred, soon joined the practice, as well as his sons, John, Sam, Charles, and nephew Joseph. The clinic grew over the decades as it merged with other clinics and built more clinics to better serve patients close to home. It employed 200 specialists and primary care providers caring for patients at locations in southwestern Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota and northeastern Iowa. Its family practice residency program is affiliated with the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine.

In 1995, Franciscan Health System, Skemp Clinic and Mayo Clinic merged to create Franciscan Skemp Healthcare — Mayo Health System in La Crosse. This partnership also included sites in Arcadia, Sparta, Tomah, Onalaska, Holmen, Caledonia, La Crescent, Prairie du Chien, and Waukon.

In May 2011, all health system locations adopted the common name of Mayo Clinic Health System in (town name). To reflect the dual sponsorship at the time, all former Franciscan Skemp locations became known as Mayo Clinic Health System — Franciscan Healthcare in (town name). In October 2018, the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration released their sponsorship to focus on other ministries.

Mayo Clinic has served as a model for medical practice throughout the world since it was founded in 1889. It, too, began as the medical practice of a country doctor, William Worrall Mayo, who was soon joined by his two sons, William J. and Charles. Together the Mayos quickly expanded the clinic into the world's first group medical practice, where teams of experts in various fields work together and support each other for the patient's benefit. Today Mayo Clinic attracts patients from around the globe and is widely considered the finest multispecialty clinic in the world.