Voice your concerns about the HealthPartners/Essentia Health acquisition
1. Start with who you are
- You are a nurse or healthcare worker in Minnesota for Essentia Health or HealthPartners.
- You are submitting a comment to the Attorney General because this acquisition could affect workers, patients, and communities across the state.
2. Describe your position carefully
- You have serious concerns about HealthPartners and Essentia Health’s proposed consolidation.
- Based on the information available so far, you do not believe this acquisition should move forward without much more transparency and clear protections for workers and patients.
- You want the Attorney General to closely review the potential impact before allowing the transaction to proceed.
- HealthPartners and Essentia have not provided enough information about what this acquisition would mean for:
- healthcare workers
- collective bargaining agreements
- pensions
- patient care
- the future of local hospitals, clinics, and services
- Workers and communities deserve clear answers before an acquisition of this size moves forward.
3. Pick a Topic(s) to share more about
Collective bargaining agreements and worker protections
- Workers need clear, public assurances that:
- collective bargaining agreements will be honored, as-is,
- pension obligations will be protected
- wages, benefits, and working conditions will not be weakened over time
- staffing, and frontline hospital jobs will be protected.
Accountability and public oversight
Because HealthPartners would be the acquiring system, it must make clear and enforceable commitments to protect workers, patients, and communities. Vague or short-term statements are not enough.
Protections workers need addressed
- Whether union contracts will be honored beyond the immediate transition.
- Whether pensions will be fully protected.
- Whether wages, benefits, and working conditions will be maintained.
- Whether staffing and frontline hospital jobs will be protected over time.
Concerns about cost and affordability
- Minnesota patients and families cannot afford care becoming more expensive.
- Any transaction involving major hospital systems should be reviewed not only for workforce impact, but also for its effect on affordability and public health.
Concerns about hospitals and access to care
- There is concern that this acquisition could lead to:
- hospital closures,
- clinic closures,
- reduced healthcare services,
- consolidation of care away from local communities.
- These risks could be especially serious for rural and regional facilities.
- Communities in greater Minnesota already face challenges in maintaining access to local hospital care.
- Any loss of services or hospital or clinic capacity could further strain patients, caregivers, and surrounding health systems.
4. Explain why this matters
- Uncertainty for nurses and healthcare workers affects morale, retention, and staffing stability.
- Instability in the workforce can affect continuity of patient care and patient outcomes.
- Changes to healthcare system ownership should be evaluated based on their real impact on workers, patients, and community access to care.
5. Make an ask of the Attorney General
- Providing patients, workers, and the public information from HealthPartners before allowing this acquisition to proceed.
- Require clear, enforceable commitments regarding collective bargaining agreements, pensions, staffing and working conditions to protect workers and patients.
- Require safeguards to ensure this acquisition does not reduce access to care, particularly in rural communities and regional facilities.
- Require safeguards to ensure this acquisition does not increase costs for patients and families.
6. Include strong closing language
- “At this time, I do not believe this acquisition should move forward without more transparency and enforceable protections for workers and patients.”
- “I urge the Attorney General to require meaningful safeguards and full public accountability before this transaction is allowed to proceed.”
- “Healthcare workers and communities deserve clear answers before a change of this scale moves forward.”
7. Submit your input
When your draft is ready, submit your comments to the Attorney General’s Community Input Form.
Use this email as an example:
Dear Attorney General Ellison:
I am a nurse at [INSERT YOUR WORKPLACE NAME] sharing my concerns about how the proposed HealthPartners’ acquisition of Essentia Health could negatively affect workers, patients and communities across the state and region. This acquisition should not move forward without much more transparency and clear protections for workers and patients.
I am asking that the Attorney General closely review the potential impact of this acquisition before it can proceed. Workers, patients and community members have not received enough information about how this acquisition would affect our jobs, collective bargaining agreements, pensions, or patients.
We are further concerned about how this transaction would affect the future of local hospitals, clinics and services. Any transaction involving major hospital systems should be reviewed not only for workforce impact, but also for its effect on affordability and public health. Healthcare workers and our communities deserve clear answers before an acquisition of this size moves forward.
I urge the Attorney General to require meaningful safeguards and full public accountability before this transaction is allowed to proceed.
Sincerely,