CEO
Emplify Health | Green Bay and La Crosse
Dr. Scott Rathgaber is chief executive officer of Emplify Health. He was CEO of La Crosse-based Gundersen Health System from 2015 until the health system merged with Green Bay-based Bellin Health and adopted the name Emplify in late 2022. The health system has about 15,000 employees and operates 11 hospitals and more than 100 clinic locations in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Upper Michigan and Iowa. Rathgaber joined Gundersen Health System gastroenterology in 1998 and became gastroenterology section chief in 2005 before being appointed medical vice president in 2012.
Education: Bachelor’s, Wabash College; Master’s, Viterbo University; M.D., Indiana University School of Medicine
Highlights from the past 12 months: “Successfully integrating two enduring legacy health systems in a true merger of equals to better serve our communities bringing care close to home.”
What would you like to change about Wisconsin: “I pray our elected officials would come together in more constructive conversations and a spirit of compromise to continue the support of thriving communities and the wonderful quality of life we enjoy in Wisconsin.”
Thing to learn this year: “I would like to learn to play the ukulele.”
Buzzword you never want to hear again: “Work-life balance. Work is part of life, not in opposition to life. I prefer ‘life balance.’”
2022 Wisconsin 275 Profile
Health Care
CEO
Gundersen Health System and
Bellin Health | La Crosse
In December, Dr. Scott Rathgaber became chief executive officer of the newly merged Bellin Health and Gundersen Health System. The combination of the two organizations – which finalized Nov. 30 – created a $2.4 billion health care system. Bellin and Gundersen have 11 hospitals and 14,000 employees.
Previously, Rathgaber had served as CEO of La Crosse-based Gundersen since 2015. Prior to the merger, Gundersen had revenues of $1.54 billion in 2021 and over 9,000 employees. Its footprint includes seven hospitals and over 60 clinics throughout western Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota and northeast Iowa.
Under Rathgaber’s leadership, Gundersen explored a possible merger with Marshfield Clinic Health System that the organizations eventually abandoned in 2019.
Immediately before becoming CEO, Rathgaber was medical vice president of the system’s hospital operations, neurosciences, general surgery, anesthesiology, emergency services, occupational health services and pharmacy.
Rathgaber is active in advocating on behalf of hospitals through the Wisconsin Hospital Association, participating in roundtables with lawmakers and traveling to Washington, D.C. to meet with lawmakers. He also advocated on behalf of his and other hospitals supporting Operation Allies Welcome, in which more than 13,000 Afghan evacuees were housed at Fort McCoy in Monroe County in August 2021.
Education: Bachelor’s, Wabash College; M.D., Indiana University Medical Center
