Mayo Clinic Health System announces it will close six clinics; some services to transition away from Albert Lea – ABC 6 News
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(ABC 6 News) — Mayo Clinic Health System has announced it will be closing six clinics in the state of Minnesota.
Those clinics are located in Belle Plaine, Caledonia, Montgomery, Northridge (North Mankato), St. Peter, and Wells.
According to MCHS, the clinics will close by December 10 and transition services to nearby MCHS locations.
Patients who have appointments scheduled after December 10 will be contacted directly to transition their care to a new location.
For more information on the closures, click here.
Additionally, MCHS announced that some services will be transitioned away from Albert Lea.
According to a press release from MCHS, elective procedures for ophthalmology, orthopedics/podiatry, endoscopy, and gynecology will transition to Austin and Waseca.
Albert Lea leaders said, unfortunately, this is the new normal.
“We’re seeing more and more health care providers scale back, unless you’re a community that is extraordinary large and is a very large health care campus, you’re going to have to start to travel eventually. Any rural areas are going to have to travel more and more,” said Ian Rigg, Albert Lea City Manager.
But they wish Mayo did a better job at providing for more vulnerable patients.
“They need to find ways to bring in those who have limited mobility, limited transportation and bring them to them. That is something I do believe Mayo needs to greatly work on and improve,” said Rigg.
The Albert Lea Health Care Coalition agreed, saying they aren’t surprised but are disappointed by Mayo’s decision.
“We’re not surprised by it. You know when this first happened to us, it was a shock, it really was, but I think this was probably the plan all along,” said Brad Arends, President of the Albert Lea Health Care Coalition.
However, Mayo said their focus is still on rural health communities.
“We remain committed to rural health and continue to invest in improving care access and patient experience across the region—through technology, facilities, and care team models that can adapt to future needs,” Dr. Karthik Ghosh said via the press release.
The transition in Albert Lea will occur after December 10.
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