Letter to John H. Noseworthy, CEO & President of Mayo Clinic - Concerns on Healthcare, Jobs, and Future of Albert Lea

Letter

Dear Dr. Noseworthy:

Thank you for the incredible work of the talented and dedicated Mayo employees in caring for patients from southern Minnesota and all across America and the world. It is an honor to represent in Congress my constituents who both work and receive world-class treatment at your facilities.

We have a long and frank working relationship to benefit the people of southern Minnesota and our country on national health care and economic development policies and priorities. I value my relationship with you and your employees. That's why I am contacting you directly on behalf of a group of constituents, who fear losing access to Mayo's world-class care in their home town.

Today, I met with constituents, including representatives from Save Our Hospital, who expressed opposition to your decision to close certain services in the Albert Lea facility, namely overnight hospitalization, inpatient care for major surgeries, ICU and childbirth, and consolidate those services on your Austin campus. My constituents said they were blind-sided by your decision and were taken aback by how quickly the transition has started. There is also serious concern about the impact of your decision on the local economy, community pride and good-paying jobs.

I understand that local leaders are urging you to suspend transferring services to Austin in order to provide time and space for negotiations to occur between Mayo and Albert Lea leaders with goal of finding alternative and acceptable solutions

Mayo's failure to fully and proactively engage the Albert Lea community on this decision is disappointing. Hospitals - like our schools and small businesses on Main Street - are the lifeblood of rural America and small towns. A partial closure of a hospital, regardless of the logic used to justify it, feels like a punch to the gut.

I urge you to give my constituents' concerns and ideas your full and fair consideration. Please know that I stand ready to do whatever I can at the federal level to be a partner with you and the good people of Albert Lea in finding alternative and acceptable solutions.

Thank you for your consideration.

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