Patients, healthcare providers and workers to hold community town hall on impact of Allina hospital closures

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MEDIA ADVISORY

Contact: Sam Fettig
(c) 612-741-0662
sam.fettig@mnnurses.org

Lauren Bloomquist
(c) 651-376-9709
lauren.bloomquist@mnnurses.org

Forum will bring community together to envision a better future for our healthcare system 

(St. Paul) – April 22, 2024 – Tomorrow, Tuesday, April 23, 2024, patients and other community members will join nurses with the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA), Allina physicians with the Doctors Council, and healthcare workers with SEIU Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa for a town hall meeting on the devastating impacts of Allina executives’ plan to close the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and surgical services at Mercy Hospital – Unity Campus in Fridley, and to eliminate pediatric inpatient beds at Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids.

The community town hall follows a public hearing held by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) late last month. While that online-only event provided ample opportunity for Allina executives to try to justify their cuts and closures, it provided very little opportunity for community questions and feedback. The community town hall will bring patients and workers together to envision a better future for our healthcare system in Minnesota. Executives from Allina Health and officials from MDH have been invited to attend, along with local elected officials.

Healthcare closures like those planned by Allina executives at Mercy Hospital and Unity Campus put patient care at risk. They take critical services out of the community, forcing families to travel further for life-saving care; they separate skilled providers and workers from the patients who rely on their care; and they further strain an already over-burdened healthcare system in Minnesota that has resulted from closures and cutbacks by other hospital companies. For carrying out these cuts, Allina CEO Lisa Shannon took home compensation of $2.6 million in 2022, including more than half a million dollars in bonus and incentive pay.

COMMUNITY TOWN HALL ON HOSPITAL SERVICE CLOSURES

  • WHEN: Tuesday, April 23, 2024, 6:00 P.M.
  • WHERE: Spring Lake Park Senior High School cafeteria, 1100 81st Ave NE, Spring Lake Park, MN  55432 – park in Able Street lot and enter through door #29
  • WHO: Patients, providers, workers, and other community members
  • WHAT: Community town hall in response to planned closures at Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids and Unity Campus in Fridley
  • WHY: To protect community care and a healthy future for our state
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