Mayo Clinic Health System will close six of its southern Minnesota locations by Dec. 10 and scale back some services at its Albert Lea campus, it announced Monday.
The closures of the Northridge clinic in North Mankato and clinics in Belle Plaine, Caledonia, Montgomery, St. Peter and Wells are the result of “ongoing efforts to strengthen rural health care delivery and ensure safe, high-quality and sustainable care for generations to come,” according to the Rochester-based health system’s press release.
Additionally, outpatient surgeries and procedures in ophthalmology, gynecology, endoscopy, orthopedics and podiatry will no longer be available at Mayo Clinic’s hospital and clinic in Albert Lea. Those services will instead be available at its Austin and Waseca campuses.
“Albert Lea will continue to serve patients by providing outpatient surgical evaluations, consultations and pre- and post-operative care,” the press release says.
MCHS cited staffing shortages and smaller patient volumes — national challenges for rural medical providers — in its announcement.
“These changes allow us to align care delivery with where we have the infrastructure, staff and support needed to provide timely, coordinated care,” said Dr. Karthik Ghosh, vice president of Mayo Clinic Health System Minnesota. “We recognize these decisions affect people, and we are committed to supporting both our patients and staff throughout this transition.”
MCHS has a frequently asked questions webpage for affected patients. Affected staff members will get the health system’s “support to explore their options, navigate the transition and plan for the future.”
Between 2017 and 2024, MCHS closed at least 17 of its clinics across the Upper Midwest. In 2017, four years after the Austin and Albert Lea hospitals merged into one entity, MCHS moved most of Albert Lea’s inpatient services to the Austin campus.
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