Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/927372
4 N A T I O N A L N U R S E W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G O C T O B E R | N O V E M B E R | D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 7 MINNESOTA T he mayo clinic may have a repu- tation for first-class medical care and research, but its record as an employer and for putting patients over profits is second rate. Minnesota nurses are rallying their communities to fight Mayo's June announcement of a major reorganization plan of two of its southern Minnesota hospi- tals that puts the status of jobs and patients at both facilities in doubt. Mayo's plan moved most inpatient serv- ices at its Albert Lea hospital to the Austin facility, more than 20 miles away. Mental health services would move from Austin to Albert Lea. Nurses were the first to sound the alarm about the dangers of the plan. They saw that the plan would disrupt patient care in both communities and cost the Albert Lea community hundreds of jobs. Patients would have to travel long distances for serv- ices they now receive close to home. Nurses were very upset with the secrecy surround- ing the plan; non-managerial staff had no input. After Minnesota Nurses Association nurses alerted the public to the impact of the decision, Albert Lea-area residents and MNA nurses quickly mobilized to form a "Save Our Hospital" group and started a very public campaign to fight Mayo and keep their full-service, acute-care hospital. Communities from all over southern Minnesota and northern Iowa joined in because the Albert Lea hospital serves a wide geographic region. Newspapers, television, radio, social media, and websites carried stories almost daily all summer about community opposi- tion to turning Albert Lea into an outpatient hospital. The community demanded a full- service, acute-care hospital for the thou- sands of patients it serves in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa. The Albert Lea City Council, the county board, legislators, Congressman Tim Walz, Attorney General Lori Swanson, Lt. Gover- nor Tina Smith, and Governor Dayton all expressed concern. Several came to Albert Lea to meet with local groups and Mayo. Save Our Hospital members held public events, including a successful August rally in front of the Mayo Clinic to protest Mayo's decision. Mayo has refused to back down, blaming the changes on financial losses at the two hospitals and staffing shortages. Nurses and other experts are challenging both claims. Nurses were able to negotiate a process for dealing with the impact on nurses' jobs, including patient care training for nurses who move to a new unit, seniority, retention, and severance. "We now have a process that Mayo must follow when units are closed and nurses are forced to change jobs," said MNA Austin Chair Kathryn Martin, RN. "Nurses hope to minimize the impact on patients and the care they receive when any changes are imposed," said MNA Albert Lea Chair Kathy Lehman, RN, in a news release. "We continue to work with the Save Our Hospital group to fight Mayo's plan to devastate communities in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa that will no longer have a full-service hospital in Albert Lea. Nurses needed to have some assurances from Mayo on how changes in their jobs will be handled." Mayo has refused to change its plans, and Save our Hospital is refusing to give up. It's a lesson in how a community can rise up and fight corporate greed. —Barbara Brady News Briefs Nurses and community fight Mayo Clinic plans Southern Minnesota and northern Iowa would lose full-service, acute-care hospital