Mayo Clinic could face injunction halting hospital consolidation

A Minnesota county is weighing its options in seeking a temporary injunction to stop Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic Health System from consolidating inpatient services between two hospitals in Albert Lea and Austin, Minn., according to a report from the Albert Lea Tribune.

After a year-long review of both hospitals, which were suffering financially, Mayo Clinic found just 5 percent of services provided in the two communities was inpatient care. It planned to move all inpatient surgeries to Austin in January 2018 and leave the Albert Lea campus open for primary and specialty care, emergency care, radiology, pharmacy and laboratory services. The first phases of the transition are slated to begin in October with a relocation of the intensive care unit, according to the Albert Lea Tribune.

However, officials from Freeborn County — where Albert Lea is located — discussed seeking a temporary injunction at a Tuesday meeting to halt the process, according to the Tribune.

Nurses from the Albert Lea hospital union voiced concerns at the Tuesday meeting about the transparency of the process, potential job losses and patient needs, according to the report. However, Mayo Clinic Health System spokeswoman Tami Yokiel told the newspaper, "All staff have received numerous emails over the course of the last 18 months to let them know change was imminent in order to keep healthcare local."

No legal action has been taken yet.

Read the full story here.

 

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