The Wisconsin Rapids School District board approved a contract with Innovia Health to offer direct primary care (DPC) services to district staff at a cost of $34.50 per member per month. The contract was approved by roll-call vote after a multi-hour presentation and discussion of services, cost projections and implementation details.

Innovia representatives, introduced by the district’s broker from M3, described the DPC model as offering extended primary care visits (typically 30–60 minutes), guaranteed same-day access for acute care, telehealth/text/email options, at-cost lab services, and coordination with specialists. Innovia said it operates several shared clinics in central Wisconsin and that Wisconsin Rapids would be the next site.

District staff presented projected costs and plan impacts: Innovia’s mid estimate was about $34.50 per member per month. Using the district’s reported health-plan membership (roughly 1,644 members referenced in the presentation), staff estimated the recurring annual cost in the high hundreds of thousands of dollars and a 15-month implementation projection near $810,000; Innovia proposed discounts if additional Rapids-based groups join the site. Innovia and the broker emphasized that savings depend on utilization and longer-term plan changes (including eventual self-funding), and they estimated DPC could reduce some categories of spending over multiple years.

Board members asked about lab turnaround times, pediatric coverage, provider recruitment and guarantees about quality. Innovia said common labs would generally return results within 24 hours (specialty tests 48–72 hours) and described physician-led teams and local recruiting plans. Implementation steps identified included lease and site readiness, open-enrollment education and quarterly utilization reporting.

Superintendent Ron Rasmussen and staff cautioned that the initiative would add an up-front budget item not currently in the baseline budget and that savings would likely be realized over multiple years if utilization goals were met. The board approved the agreement to begin implementation; administrators said they will return with implementation details and reporting on utilization and costs as the clinic opens.