Door County Medical Center in Sturgeon Bay, Wis., is selling its dental clinic to N.E.W. Community Clinic.
The two organizations signed a letter of intent to transition the clinic beginning Jan. 1, 2025.
The hospital said in an Aug. 14 news release that the move will allow it to focus on its core mission, adding that the N.E.W. Clinic has more of an opportunity to expand services and have a larger impact on the community because it has greater access to federal and state funding sources.
The N.E.W. Community Clinic is a federally qualified health center that also offers medical and behavioral health services. The clinic already has two dental locations in Green Bay, Wis.
The Door County Medical Center clinic was founded in 1999 and serves about 5,000 patients each year.
DCMC CEO Brian Stephens said the decision is "difficult" because the medical center is proud of the clinic's work in the community, but that it is "critical for the sustainability of those services."
Patients at the DCMC clinic will seamlessly transition into the N.E.W. Clinic's patient roster, and the clinic's providers and staff will not change, the hospital said. The hospital will also continue to own the building housing the clinic and will lease it to the N.E.W. Community Clinic.