St. Croix Hospice has cut the ribbon for a new location in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

The de novo will serve La Crosse, Jackson, Trempealeau, Monroe and Vernon counties. The new office is St. Croix Hospice’s 18th location in Wisconsin. The company expects that the new operation will reduce travel times for clinicians to visit patients in its service region.

“There’s been more travel times between patients, and so when we have a smaller branch, it’s easier for us to care better for patients, rather than having to travel so much,” Betsy Bellock, manager of clinical services at the site, told local news.

Adults 65 and older accounted for 17.5% of Wisconsin’s overall population during 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The Badger State’s population of seniors 60 and older was outpacing the growth of other age groups in 2012 and is projected to increase with an uptick of nearly 36% by 2030.

St. Croix Hospice continues to have its eye on expansion. The company in recent weeks effected two acquisitions — of Hospice of the Siouxland in Iowa and some of Mayo Clinic’s hospice locations in St. Croix Hospice’s home state of Minnesota The hospice provider is a portfolio company of the private equity firm H.I.G. Capital.

In March of last year, the hospice provider launched a de novo in the Clarinda, Iowa, community. During 2023, St. Croix Hospice opened new locations in Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Wisconsin.