Community gears up for release of feasibility report

Local officials are evaluating two detailed reports of Mayo Clinic Health System’s transition of most inpatient services from Albert Lea to Austin.

The hospital system last week released the results of an economic report completed by TEConomy Partners LLC. in September that found Mayo Clinic Health System provided more than 1,000 direct jobs and more than 500 indirect jobs in 2015 in Freeborn County. The hospital system contributed $180 million in economic output in Freeborn County in 2015, according to the report.

The results of a feasibility report compiled by Quorum Health Services LLC are expected to be released tonight at a public forum that begins at 6 p.m. at the Albert Lea High School auditorium.

Mayo Clinic spokeswoman Ginger Plumbo said Monday the hospital system is “firmly committed to the people and economic well-being of the communities of Albert Lea as well as surrounding communities. We are exceptionally proud of the health care our team provides to patients living in the surrounding area and of the positive economic impact our presence has on the region.”

Local representatives and Mayo officials met last week.

Albert Lea CIty Manager Chad Adams said representatives at the meeting presented the hospital leaders community thoughts on the transition and analysis the community is seeking.

The city is still looking for concrete answers on the economic impact the transition will have, and another meeting between them could take place within the next few weeks.

Plumbo said the hospital system does not have a detailed economic analysis completed on the economic impact the hospital system will have in Freeborn County once the transition is complete.

“Since we expect our employment level to remain the same, and we anticipate at least similar visitor traffic to Albert Lea as we transition our psychiatric care offerings and continue to provide same-day surgeries, doctor visits, cancer care and many other services, Mayo’s contribution to the Freeborn County economy will remain strong,” she said.

The hospital system anticipates it will expand clinic and surgery services as the transition progresses, Plumbo said.

“We do not have projected numbers at this time, but plan to use the current economic impact report as a baseline upon which to build,” she said.

Albert Lea-Save Our Hospital member Jennifer Vogt-Erickson said Monday Mayo has not met its promise to provide an economic impact study on the transition.

“It’s just another example of Mayo playing games with us,” she said.

She said she is disappointed the numbers are from two years ago.

“We want meaningful information moving forward,” Vogt-Erickson said.

“Mayo continues to gloss over the impact that its closure of most inpatient services at Albert Lea’s hospital will have on our community. Nobody believes that a study based on 2015 numbers, when we had a full-service operation, is a meaningful proxy for what our hospital will look like in 2021.”

Plumbo said the positions transitioned to Austin are replaced by jobs in Albert Lea at a similar level and pay and expects the transition to have “little to no impact on the economy of Albert Lea.”