Congratulations to 2025 Recipients
The national law firm of Quarles & Brady and RWHC are proud to jointly announce the winners of the eighth annual Community Engagement Award.
FIRST PLACE:
The first-place $2,500 prize was awarded to
Emplify Health by Bellin, Oconto Hospital
SECOND PLACE:
Honorable mention $500 grants were given to
Door County Medical Center and Western Wisconsin Health.
RECIPIENTS OF QUARLES & BRADY/RURAL WISCONSIN HEALTH COOPERATIVE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AWARD ANNOUNCED
September XX, 2025 (Madison, Wis.) — The national law firm of Quarles & Brady and Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative (RWHC) are proud to announce the winners of their 10th annual Community Engagement Award. The first-place $2,500 prize was awarded to Emplify Health by Bellin, Oconto Hospital and honorable mention $500 prizes were given to Door County Medical Center and Western Wisconsin Health.
“The Community Engagement Award has recognized amazing and dedicated health care organizations for the past 10 years,” said Tim Size, executive director of RWHC. “This year was no different and we are proud to highlight and provide resources to three health care organizations and their partners who are implementing fantastic initiatives to strengthen their community health and wellness.”
Emplify Health by Bellin, Oconto Hospital’s winning proposal was to use the funds to collaborate with several community partners to expand preventive care and wellness education through schools’ community programs and strengthen mental health systems with a focus on early intervention and youth resilience. The hospital also plans on using the funds to overcome rural barriers and address social determinants of health by improving access to nutritious food, safe housing, clean water and transportation. One partner highlighted in the Emplify Health by Bellin, Oconto Hospital application was Health, Empowerment, Resilience (HER) – A Rural Wellness Initiative for Teen Girls. Emerged from a shared recognition of a growing crisis among local youth, the HER initiative aims to empower teenage girls with knowledge, tools and confidence to make healthy choices.
The proposal from Door County Medical Center (DCMC) stemmed from its need to improve emergency medical services (EMS) in Door County. Door County’s EMS system is unique in Wisconsin because it is only one of two county-wide paramedic services. In 2018, the last local private ambulance service that worked with DCMC closed, forcing the hospital to partner exclusively with services outside of the community. In 2023, DCMC teamed with Door County EMS and signed an agreement with the county to begin providing transport services to patients who needed to be transferred to Green Bay hospitals. The new partnership required financial support to cover losses from the program, the establishment of DCMC as a training site for paramedics and EMTs, and sending nursing staff on transport runs. Since the implementation in 2024, the partnership has led to a drop in average transfer wait time from 104 minutes to 45 minutes.
Located in Baldwin, Wis., Western Wisconsin Health (WWH) and Baldwin Area EMS launched the Community Paramedic Program to expand access to non-emergent health care services in their community. At no cost to the patient, the program performs designated clinical procedures, manages chronic conditions and provides health education for patients in their homes. The program has demonstrated measurable success by delivering over 1,600 in-home visits and significantly improving access to care for high-risk and underserved populations. As demand continues to grow, the funds provided to WWH will help expand the program to five days a week and will further solidify its role as a cornerstone of rural population health.
“Rural hospitals across Wisconsin face a multitude of challenges that can be barriers to their growth and reduce health care access to their patients. Every year, we have the privilege of reading inspiring applications from hospitals all over the state,” said Sarah Coyne, Health & Life Sciences partner in the Quarles Madison office. “An integral part of Quarles is to give back to the communities in which we live and work, and through the Community Engagement Award, we have had the opportunity to reward rural hospitals who are doing fantastic work in their community to break down these barriers.”