Backgrounder: Group Health Cooperative of Eau Claire

Over 30 years ago in the Chippewa Valley, there was a need for a health care system that delivered high-quality, cost-effective care for the community. Group Health Cooperative of Eau Claire (GHC) started as a local thought and grew into a nationally recognized HMO. Group Health Cooperative now serves more than 70,000 members in Western Wisconsin. Its purpose is to optimize the health care of its members through the pooling of health-related resources. Group Health Cooperative has more than 4000 primary and specialty care physicians in its network.

Group Health Cooperative of Eau Claire is a community-based non-profit health plan designed to give consumers in Western Wisconsin affordable, high-quality care. An elected Board of Directors has the responsibility for following the policy and procedures related to the delivery of health care services. Most importantly, GHC is a cooperative, meaning every member has a voice in the organization.

In six of the last seven years, GHC has ranked as Western Wisconsin’s top health plan in terms of overall member satisfaction, according to data gathered via Consumer Assessment of Health Plan Satisfaction (CAHPS) surveys by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). The third-party CAHPS surveys are designed to offer an indication of how well health plans are meeting their members’ expectations.

For more information about Group Health Cooperative, please visit www.group-health.com.