By Mary Pieper, Mason City Globe Gazette

FOREST CITY — Mayo Clinic Health Systems’ plans to move inpatient services at its Albert Lea hospital to Austin would negatively impact Winnebago County, officials said.

The consolidation would force many residents to travel longer distances to receive critical care, according to Teresa Nicholson, director of Winn-Worth Betco.

When dealing with a situation such as a heart attack or a stroke, “timing is everything,” she said.

Winnebago County Emergency Management Coordinator Andy Buffington said not being able to get residents to the nearest hospital or the hospital of their choice “puts our public safety at risk.”

Nicholson is a member of a sub-committee of the Save Our Hospital Committee, which formed after Mayo announced plans in June to consolidate its Albert Lea and Austin campuses.

The group’s goal is to either retain Mayo inpatient services in Albert Lea or convince another provider to serve that community and the surrounding area.

Last week, the Winnebago County Board of Supervisors agreed to sign a letter of support for the committee.

Nicholson is also seeking support from other governmental entities in Winnebago and Worth counties, as well as EMS and nursing homes.

A lot of people in Winnebago and Worth counties — particularly those who live in the northern portion of those counties — receive care at Mayo Clinic Health System in Albert Lea, according to Nicholson.

She said the town of Emmons — which is near the point where the counties of Winnebago, Worth and Freeborn meet — is just 13 miles from Mayo in Albert Lea, but 37 miles from Mayo in Austin and 40 miles from Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa in Mason City.

The proposed timeline is to consolidate Albert Lea’s intensive care unit to Austin in October, followed by inpatient surgery in early 2018, medical/surgical in the second quarter of fiscal year 2019 and childbirth services in 2020.

Mayo plans to relocate inpatient behavior health services from Austin to Albert Lea in mid-2018.

Nicholson said members of the committee would like to keep Mayo as the provider of inpatient services at Albert Lea because it’s a world-renowned health care brand.

However, since Mayo is planning to begin consolidation in just a few months, the committee is seeking another provider for Albert Lea while continuing to negotiate with Mayo, she said.

Save Our Hospital has been in contact with six other health care providers, according to Mariah Lynne, co-chair of the committee.

She wouldn’t reveal who they are, but said “there is interest among the six providers” in coming to Albert Lea.

Mayo officials said the consolidation of its Albert Lea and Austin facilities is needed because of staffing shortages, rising costs and declining reimbursements for services, which are affecting health care organizations nationwide.

“We must make changes to the way we provide health care in order to be available to our patients and communities in the future,” said Bobbie Gostout, leader of the Mayo Clinic Health System, in a news release.

Mayo officials said both Albert Lea and Austin will continue to offer 95 percent of the services patients use the most often, such as emergency room, primary and specialty care, outpatient surgeries and procedures, pregnancy care, lab, radiology and pharmacy.

A lot of people in Lake Mills, Scarville and even Forest City get care from Mayo in Albert Lea, according to Buffington.

“Dollars and cents sometimes drive decisions,” but hopefully Mayo will consider what’s good for the public as well because “it’s the right thing to do,” he said.

Nicholson said the consolidation also would have a negative economic impact on Winnebago and Worth counties.

A large number of employees at the Mayo hospital in Albert Lea live in those counties, she said.

Although Mayo officials have said any job losses would be minimal, in other communities in Minnesota such as Fairmont — where inpatient services at the Mayo campus were transitioned to Mankato — “that has not held true,” Nicholson said.

If there’s no full-service hospital in Albert Lea, that could hurt efforts to recruit new businesses, according to Nicholson.

Lynne said the Save Our Hospital Committee meets at 6 p.m. every Sunday at the American Legion in Albert Lea, 142 N. Broadway Ave.

She encourages anyone from Winnebago or Worth County who has an interest in the issue to attend.