Mayo Clinic has given Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and state lawmakers an ultimatum over two bills that aim to increase nurse staffing levels and rein in health care costs: Gut the bills or the nonprofit hospital will pull billions in planned investments out of the state.
In an email to legislative leaders and Walz’s office, a Mayo Clinic executive said the non-profit is reconsidering its plans for new facilities and infrastructure that are “four times the size of the investment in U.S. Bank Stadium” — a $1.1 billion project. Their decision is “time sensitive” and will be made in a matter of days.
“Because these bills continue to proceed without meaningful and necessary changes to avert their harms to Minnesotans, we cannot proceed with seeking approval to make this investment in Minnesota. We will need to direct this enormous investment to other states,” Kate Johansen, vice chair of external engagement, wrote in an email obtained by the Minnesota Reformer.
Mayo Clinic, the state’s largest private employer with over 48,000 workers, has been spearheading a decade-long redevelopment effort in Rochester to turn the small southern Minnesota city into the “Silicon Valley of medicine,” helped by hundreds of millions in public money. Read more.
