As Mayo moves hospital services, Albert Lea lands a new provider
A coalition objecting to Mayo Clinic's decision to end some hospital services in Albert Lea says a new provider is coming to their community.
MercyOne North Iowa will be offering care in Albert Lea starting as early as next summer.
The announcement comes as Mayo Clinic finishes shifting labor and delivery, inpatient and intensive care services to its Austin campus.
“We are not only are on a path to restore services that have been removed from Albert Lea, but we also will have more specialists available,” said Albert Lea Healthcare Coalition president Brad Arends.
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Members of the coalition led a years-long campaign to stop Mayo from moving the services out of their community. But Mayo says staffing and low patient volumes made that impossible.
In a statement, Mayo said it would continue to offer “highly valued quality of care with a wide range of services” in Albert Lea, including outpatient surgeries and an emergency department. The statement also said Mayo would continue to provide “a seamless connection to the Mayo Clinic care patients need and deserve when facing serious or complex illnesses.”
MercyOne North Iowa is a hospital that’s part of a much larger health system headquartered in Des Moines. The hospital says it specializes in offering care to rural communities.
According to the Albert Lea coalition, MercyOne's services will come in phases, starting with a primary care clinic plus visiting specialists and urgent care. Imaging and surgery may come down the road.
The clinic’s location has not been disclosed.