Minneapolis-based Children's Minnesota released new details of its plan to move complex services out of its inpatient hospital in St. Paul, Minn., according to the Pioneer Press.
Children's Minnesota said the goal of transferring the complex services from its campus in St. Paul to its facility in Minneapolis is to consolidate related services under the same roof. The health system said it does not plan to close either hospital campus.
Under the plan, Children's Minnesota will end neuro-surgical services and inpatient care for Type 1 diabetics at its St. Paul hospital and move them to its Minneapolis campus.
Sydney Pederson, a registered nurse at Children's Minnesota-St. Paul, told the publication that the hospital now only accepts low-acuity medical-surgical patients, a step toward possibly eliminating the entire intensive care unit.
"Children's has said this is an 18-to-24 month plan, and we're just in the first few months of it,” Ms. Pederson told the Pioneer Press. "We've been told there are more changes coming. When we've asked when, they’ve said sometime in 2021."
Children's Minnesota officials said they do not expect to lay off any union nurses in St. Paul under the current plan, but some members will be transferred to Minneapolis.
Children's Minnesota said in late September that it was eyeing layoffs and service consolidations due to mounting financial pressure from the pandemic, demographic shifts and policy changes.