Health groups propose new Twin Cities children's hospital

Children's Hospital in Minneapolis
Children's Hospital in Minneapolis.
Photo courtesy of Children's Hospital and Clinics of Minnesota

(AP) - Three Twin Cities health groups propose to join forces with the University of Minnesota to build a "world class" hospital for pediatric research and care on the university's West Bank campus.

Many details must be worked out, but board members of Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, Fairview Health Services and its University of Minnesota Children's Hospital, and Allina Hospitals & Clinics have endorsed the general idea.

If the decision is made to proceed, construction could begin in 2008, said Jim Ryan, chief executive officer of the Ryan Companies construction firm and chair of Children's Hospitals and Clinics.

A formal announcement of the hospital proposal was scheduled for Tuesday.

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It would be an independent, world-class hospital. We could have the most significant children's hospital in the United States.

The hospital would be modeled after similar research and care hospitals in Boston, Cincinnati, Philadelphia and Houston. It will be affiliated with the university and located near the Riverside Campus of the university Medical Center, Fairview. The site is now a parking lot.

"It would be an independent, world-class hospital," Ryan said. "We could have the most significant children's hospital in the United States."

Jon Campbell, CEO of Wells Fargo's Minnesota operations and chair of Fairview's board, said the new hospital would eliminate some duplication of services among the three groups and allow their specialties to complement each other.

For instance, Children's Hospitals and Clinics specializes in childhood cancer, diabetes and epilepsy while Fairview's University of Minnesota Children's Hospital specializes in bone marrow and organ transplants for children. It also has a large behavioral medical services program.

Campbell said the existing hospitals would retain their obstetrics and infant intensive care units.

Edson Spencer Jr., a managing partner of Affinity Capital Management and a member of Allina's board, said the health groups anticipate planning to take three or four months.

For one thing, the ownership structure of the hospital hasn't been worked out.

"This would be a great opportunity to manage financial resources more effectively and still produce the highest quality facility available," Spencer said. "My confidence level is high - this is going to receive broad community support."

While a consolidated children's hospital has been discussed before, the executives said it now makes more sense due to the rising costs of medical research and care and the difficulty in getting charitable dollars for multiple institutions.

"We have watched the race for capital in health care," Ryan said. "When it comes to Minnesota's children, we believe there's a better way."

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)