Connect with us

Wisconsin

Medical College of Wisconsin to invest $50 million in improving three areas in next 5-10 years

Published

on

Medical College of Wisconsin to invest  million in improving three areas in next 5-10 years


GREEN BAY – The Medical College of Wisconsin is turning its attention to hypertension, childhood behavioral health, and the well-being of the state’s health care workers.

At a news conference Thursday at Lambeau Field, the Medical College of Wisconsin announced it will be investing $50 million as part of the MCW’s Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment into the three areas to improve them statewide over the next five to 10 years.

The three health-related issues were determined to be priorities based on state data and 18 months of focus groups, surveys, and discussions with health care workers and community partners, said Jesse Ehrenfeld, director of the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment.

Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin was established by MCW to steward funds from Blue Cross and Blue Shield United of Wisconsin. Since 2004, the endowment has invested $338 million into 643 projects statewide including the creation of the MCW Green Bay and Wausau campuses. La Crosse, Racine, Winnebago, Brown, and Marathon counties have the most projects of at least nine funded by AHW.

Advertisement

It’s unclear what activities or specific projects will be supported by the $50 million invested into the three areas, but the investment is meant to “move the needle” on improving residents’ health in the three areas and expands research, said Joseph Kerschner, MCW dean of the School of Medicine, provost and executive vice president.

High blood pressure

About 1.3 million Wisconsinites have hypertension, and about half of them don’t have it under control, according to data from the state Department of Health Services. About one in six people who have it don’t know they have high blood pressure.

Ehrenfeld said access to care and home blood pressure monitors is important to helping people lower their blood pressure.

Health workforce well-being

Health care workers in the state are still dealing with levels of burnout especially after the pandemic. The Wisconsin Hospital Association described the state’s health care workforce as “critical but stable” in its 2024 Health Care Workforce Report. In 2022, staffing vacancy rates in hospitals was 9.9%, according to the report.

Advertisement

With many workers heading to retirement, Ehrenfield said the endowment decided to prioritize reducing burnout and improving well-being at hospitals to improve the state’s physician shortage. Many health care workers don’t reach out for mental health or substance abuse support because they are afraid of being reprimanded by a medical board or losing their license, Ehrenfield said.

“We need to reduce that stigma,” he said. “They need to be well themselves to take care of others.

Childhood behavioral health

Over half of Wisconsin early care and education professionals reported an increase in challenging behaviors, according to a 2021 survey and are leading to childhood expulsions.

Ehrenfield said the funding will go toward creating more “support systems” around the state and continue the work of a previously AHW behavioral health project.

More: Family circles, robust resource databases, peer-support: what 8 years of mental health progress looks like

Advertisement

Contact Benita Mathew at bmathew@gannett.com.



Source link

Wisconsin

Storms Friday night but a dry weekend ahead in SE Wisconsin

Published

on

Storms Friday night but a dry weekend ahead in SE Wisconsin


Storms Friday night but a dry weekend ahead in SE Wisconsin

More storms are likely Friday night before our weather quiets down for Easter weekend in SE Wisconsin

Advertisement

RIGHT AFTER WORLD NEWS WITH DAVID MUIR AT 530. THANK YOU DIANA. SHOWERS AND STORMS ARE MOVING IN, BUT IT WILL NOT BE A REPEAT OF LAST NIGHT. THAT’S GOOD NEWS, MARK. THE CHANCE OF SEVERE WEATHER IS VERY LOW. IT IS VERY GOOD BECAUSE NO, I WOULDN’T WANT TO HAVE A REPEAT OF LAST NIGHT. THANKFULLY, WE’RE NOT GOING TO DO THAT. WE DO HAVE SOME SHOWERS ROLLING IN. IT’S A ROUND OF EVENING SHOWERS, BUT A LOT OF THIS IS FALLING APART. I THINK IT’S MAINLY GOING TO BE A COUPLE OF SPRINKLES BY THE TIME IT GETS TO MILWAUKEE. RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY OVERNIGHT. A COUPLE OF STRONG STORMS POSSIBLE. YES. RAIN MOVES OUT BY EARLY SATURDAY. MOST OF SATURDAY IS DRY. IT GETS BREEZY. TEMPERATURES. NOT BAD THOUGH. WE’LL MAKE IT INTO THE MID 50S. ALL RIGHT. FOR THE REST OF TONIGHT YOUR SEVERE THREAT LEVEL ONE AGAIN. LAST NIGHT WE ARE LEVEL THREE ON THE SEVERE THREAT INDEX. WE’RE NOT THERE. ANY KIND OF THREAT WOULD BE HAIL. THAT’S THAT’S OUR ONLY WORRY. I’M NOT WORRIED ABOUT TORNADOES. ANYTHING LIKE THAT. SO A LOW CHANCE OF SOME HAIL. ANY OF THE THREATS ARE VERY LOW. VERY LOW THREAT OF DAMAGING WINDS THAT SHOULD STAY WAY SOUTH. VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY LOW THREAT OF TORNADOES. I’M ALWAYS SCARED TO PUT ZERO THREAT OF TORNADOES, BUT IT’S CLOSE TO ZERO FLOODING. WELL, YOU KNOW WHAT? WE ARE WATERLOGGED. AND SO IT’S NOT GOING TO TAKE THAT MUCH RAIN. WE COULD GET UP TO AN INCH OF RAIN AND THAT WOULD CAUSE SOME ISSUES. NOTICE HOW THIS CONTINUES TO FALL APART. IT’S A STEADY RAIN THOUGH IN WESTERN WAUKESHA COUNTY. IT’S STARTING TO MOVE INTO THE CITY OF WAUKESHA AND INTO PEWAUKEE AS WELL. THUNDERSTORMS BACK OUT TO THE WEST OF US. THE SEVERE THREAT REALLY, I THINK IS WELL, SOUTH. THAT’S WHERE THE WARMER AIR IS LOCATED. IT’S NOT HERE. SO AS WE HEAD THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT, THAT MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, WE BRING IN SHOWERS AND SOME THUNDERSTORMS, MAYBE A LITTLE SMALL HAIL IN THERE AS WELL. THE COLDER AIR STARTS WRAPPING BACK IN AS WE HEAD INTO SATURDAY NIGHT. MAYBE EVEN ENOUGH TO GET A PASSING FLURRY JUST IN TIME FOR EASTER MORNING. BUT THAT’S NOT GOING TO LAST LONG. EASTER IS OKAY. I WOULDN’T SAY IT’S GREAT, BUT IT’S ALL RIGHT. IT’S 49 DEGREES, A FEW SPRINKLES EARLY, EARLY, EARLY ON SATURDAY. IT’S GONE BY 8:00 AT THE LATEST. THE REST OF THE DAY IS FINE. HOW ABOUT EASTER? WELL, WE START OUT PRETTY CHILLY, 33 AT 7 A.M. IF YOU’RE GOING TO DO EASTER EGG HUNTS. ONE. IF IT’S OUTSIDE, YOU BETTER DRESS FOR IT AND ALSO BE READY FOR THE MUDDY BECAUSE IT IS GOING TO BE WET. WE’RE WET ALL OVER, BUT WE’RE GREENING THINGS UP PRETTY QUICKLY HERE, THANKS TO THE FACT THAT WE’VE HAD ALL THAT RAIN YESTERDAY. 1.8IN OF RAIN IN MILWAUKEE 39 RIGHT NOW IN ELKHART LAKE, 46 DEGREES IN DELAVAN, WHERE YOU’VE HAD A PASSING SHOWER, BUT THAT HAS MOVED ON. NOT EXACTLY SEEING ANYTHING WARM UNLESS YOU GO HERE 81 DEGREES DOWN IN SAINT LOUIS. YOU CAN CLEARLY SEE WHERE THE FRONT IS LOCATED. ALL RIGHT, EARLY SPRINKLES. A BREEZY DAY FOR TOMORROW. MOST OF THE DAY IS DRY, AND I DO THINK WE’LL SEE SOME SUNSHINE OFF. AND ON EASTER SUNDAY DRY, WHICH IS NICE. 49 IT’S KIND OF NICE BECAUSE MOST OF THE STRETCH AFTER WE GET THROUGH TONIGHT IS QUIET. MONDAY AND TUESDAY ARE QUIET. TUESDAY, OF COURSE, IS ELECTION DAY HIGH OF ONLY 38. SO DRESS WARMLY HEADING TO THE POLLS AND THEN WE WARM RIGHT BACK UP IN THE 50S. CHANCES FOR SHOWERS AS WE HEAD INTO THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. IT’S OKAY.

Advertisement

Storms Friday night but a dry weekend ahead in SE Wisconsin

More storms are likely Friday night before our weather quiets down for Easter weekend in SE Wisconsin

Updated: 6:30 PM CDT Apr 3, 2026

Advertisement

Editorial Standards

More storms are likely Friday night before our weather quiets down for Easter weekend in SE Wisconsin

More storms are likely Friday night before our weather quiets down for Easter weekend in SE Wisconsin

Advertisement



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Wisconsin

Has Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Chris Taylor been ‘pushing noncitizen voting’?

Published

on

Has Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Chris Taylor been ‘pushing noncitizen voting’?


No.

We found no evidence that liberal Wisconsin Appeals Court Judge Chris Taylor has supported allowing noncitizens to vote.

Taylor and conservative state Appeals Court Judge Maria Lazar are running in the April 7 Wisconsin Supreme Court election.

A Lazar ad claimed Taylor is “pushing for noncitizen voting.” 

Lazar’s campaign cited:

Advertisement

Taylor’s opposition, while a Democratic state lawmaker, to the Republican-backed 2011 state law requiring identification to vote.

Her introduction of a 2017 bill, which did not become law. It would have provided driver’s licenses to unauthorized residents, but the licenses would have been labeled: “Not valid for voting purposes.”

Taylor’s opinion, in a 2024 appeals court ruling, which said absentee ballots count even if voters’ witnesses fail to give election clerks their full address. Citizenship is required to vote in Wisconsin, but Wisconsin election officials generally do not verify citizenship when a person registers.

Sources

Think you know the facts? Put your knowledge to the test. Take the Fact Brief quiz

This <a target=”_blank” href=”https://wisconsinwatch.org/2026/04/wisconsin-supreme-court-candidate-taylor-lazar-noncitizen-voting-election-campaign-ad/”>article</a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https://wisconsinwatch.org”>Wisconsin Watch</a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.<img src=”https://i0.wp.com/wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/cropped-WCIJ_IconOnly_FullColor_RGB-1.png?fit=150%2C150&amp;quality=100&amp;ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”>

<img id=”republication-tracker-tool-source” src=”https://wisconsinwatch.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1315652&amp;ga4=G-D2S69Y9TDB” style=”width:1px;height:1px;”><script> PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: “https://wisconsinwatch.org/2026/04/wisconsin-supreme-court-candidate-taylor-lazar-noncitizen-voting-election-campaign-ad/”, urlref: window.location.href }); } } </script> <script id=”parsely-cfg” src=”//cdn.parsely.com/keys/wisconsinwatch.org/p.js”></script>



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Wisconsin

President of Wisconsin’s largest mosque detained by US immigration agents

Published

on

President of Wisconsin’s largest mosque detained by US immigration agents


The president of Wisconsin’s largest mosque was detained by federal immigration agents, drawing accusations from local officials and religious leaders that the arrest was motivated by his statements against Israel.

Salah Sarsour, a Palestinian-born legal permanent resident of the United States, was taken into custody by nearly a dozen US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on Monday in Milwaukee after he left his home, according to the Islamic Society of Milwaukee.

Supporters called for his immediate release on Thursday and his attorneys said he was detained on the grounds that he is a foreign policy threat. His attorneys say the claims have no merit.

Instead, they believe Sarsour, 53, was targeted for speaking out against Israel and for a conviction as a minor by Israeli military courts, which have faced scrutiny over allegations of limited due process and high conviction rates of Palestinians. Israel rejects those claims. The offenses included allegedly throwing rocks at Israeli officers, according to attorney Munjed Ahmad.

Advertisement

“Our government should not be doing the bidding of a foreign government,” Ahmad said of Israel. “There’s no question in my mind is that this is to stifle the discourse on the Palestinian narrative.”

Attorneys said Sarsour, born in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has no criminal record in the US.

Sarsour’s attorneys have likened the case to that of Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University activist who faces deportation because the federal government said he was a foreign policy threat.

An email message left on Thursday for ICE and the Department of Homeland Security was not immediately returned.

Sarsour has been the president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, the largest Islamic organization in the state, for five years. His attorneys say he’s held a green card for years and lived in the Milwaukee area. His wife and four adult children are US citizens.

Advertisement

His arrest prompted outcry from top elected officials, including Milwaukee’s mayor, Cavalier Johnson, who called it “an outrage”.

“He is a legal permanent resident. There is no substantive evidence he has done anything wrong,” Johnson said in a post on X. “This is another example of overreach and harm from the U.S. Immigration authorities.”

Sarsour is being held at county jail outside Indianapolis. His attorneys have filed a petition seeking his release.

“He is ready to fight tooth and nail to make sure that he’s not drug through the mud,” Ahmad said. “He wants to stay in this country.”



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending