MOORE, THANKS FOR COMING.

>> THANK YOU, SO MUCH.

>> Cathy: WELL, WE'RE GOING TO GO AHEAD AND TALK ABOUT SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENTLY AT THIS POINT.

THE FATE OF HCMC AND ITS LEVEL ONE TRAUMA CENTER IS BEING WATCHED CLOSELY BY RESIDENTS IN GREATER MINNESOTA TOO.

RESIDENTS IN THE SOUTHEASTERN PART OF THE STATE HAVE ALREADY SEEN ONE MAJOR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER RECENTLY CLOSE CLINICS AND CONSOLIDATE SERVICES.

REPORTER KAOMI LEE WENT TO FIND OUT HOW RURAL PATIENTS ARE ADJUSTING TO THE CHANGES.

>> Kaomi: I'M FROM THIS -- >> I'M FROM THIS AREA.

>> Kaomi: 33 YEAR OLD PhD STUDENT ERIN KELSO RETURNED TO HER ROOTS A FEW YEARS AGO.

>> MY MOM WAS A VETERINARIAN.

>> KELSO MOVED BACK AFTER HER MOTHER WAS DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER.

SHE DIED LAST YEAR, NOW SHE'S CARING FOR HER FATHER WHO ALSO HAS CANCER AND SHE HAS HAD HER OWN PROBLEMS TOO.

SO IT CAME AS A SHOCK WHEN THE CLINICS CLOSED.

>> ALL OF A SUDDEN, 2023, EVEN THOUGH WE HAD THIS NEW BUILDING, I MEAN, IT WAS A WELL TRAVELED CLINIC.

I MEAN, THERE'S PATIENTS, FOR SURE.

PATIENT TRAFFIC.

>> Kaomi: HER DOCTOR GOT TRANSFERRED TO THE MAYO CLINIC IN ST.

PETER, BUT MAYO CLOSED THAT CLINIC TOO AND FIVE OTHERS IN SOUTHERN MINNESOTA.

NOW KELSO MUST TRAVEL TO MANKATO TO SEE HER SAME DOCTOR.

>> IT WENT FROM BEING A TEN-MINUTE DRIVE TO 40 TO 45-MINUTE DRIVE TO ACCESS MY HEALTHCARE AND THAT DOESN'T FEEL GOOD.

>> Kaomi: LIVING MATTER SMALL TOWN COMMUNITY WHERE THE MAYO BROTHERS, WILLIAM AND CHARLES, WERE FROM.

IN A STATEMENT, THE MAYO CLIP CRICK SAID THIS IS CHANGE IS PART OF THE ONGOING EFFORTS TO STRENGTHSEN RURAL HEALTHCARE DELIVERY AND TO ENSURE SAFE, HIGH QUALITY AND SUSTAINABLE CARE FOR GENERATIONS TO COME.

MAYO ALSO CITED STAFFING SHORTAGES AND DECLINING PATIENT VOLUMES.

>> IT SEEMS TO ME MORE LIKE KIND OF CONFORMITY SPEAK FOR COST CUTTING MEASURES.

>> Kaomi: SHE SAYS THE MAYO MANKATO CLINIC NOW SEEMS CHAOTIC.

HER DOCTOR TOLD HER STAFF MORAL IS LOW.

IN RECENT YEARS, MAYO HAS DOWN-SIZED ABOUT A DOZEN FACILITIES.

THAT WASN'T ALWAYS MAYO'S STRATEGY.

>> THE '80s AND '90s, MAYO CLINIC IN MINNESOTA EXPANDED BY BUYING UP MANY, IF NOT MOST OF THE HOSPITALS IN SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA.

ALSO IN WESTERN WISCONSIN.

LA CROSSE, EAU CLAIRE, MENOMONIE, AND BUYING CLINICS IN NORTHERN IOWA, CREATING A REGIONAL SYSTEM, KIND OF A HUB AND SPOKE STRATEGY.

>> Kaomi: PATIENTS WHO NEEDED SPECIALISTS WOULD BE REFERRED TO ROCHESTER.

HE SAID IT WAS A WAY TO CREATE A STEADY FLOW OF PATIENTS AND REVENUES.

BUT NOW THESE REGIONAL PRIMARY CARE CLINICS HAVE BECOME EXPENSIVE TO RUN.

>> EVEN THE VAUNTED MAYO CLINIC WITH ITS GOLDEN PRESTIGE ALSO HAS A DIFFICULT TIME GETTING PHYSICIANS TO PRACTICE IN THOSE AREAS.

>> Kaomi: BUT THE SUDDEN CLOSURES HAVE LEFT MANY PATIENTS ANGRY AND FRUSTRATED.

FOR SOME, THE NUMBERS DON'T ADD UP.

>> MAYO CLINIC IS A HUGELY PROFITABLE ORGANIZATION.

IN THEIR 2025 RESULTS THEY SET NEW RECORDS, I THINK, FOR THEIR PROFITABILITY.

SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 1 BILLION AND 1.5 BILLION IN OPERATING INCOME.

I THINK IT IS FAIR TO RAISE THE QUESTION ABOUT WHAT IS THEIR COMMITMENT, WHAT IS THEIR DUTY TO RURAL COMMUNITIES?

>> Kaomi: THE MAYO CLINIC DID NOT REPLY BEYOND THIS STATEMENT, BUT ITS ANNUAL REPORT RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT ITS COMMITMENT TO CHARITY CARE VERSUS PROFITS.

A YEAR AGO, IT SETTLED WITH THE STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL, AFTER AN INVESTIGATION FOUND IT WAS SUING TO COLLECT ON DEBTS FROM PATIENTS WHO WERE ELIGIBLE FOR CHARITY CARE.

THE MAYO CLINIC DENIED ANY WRONGDOING.

THE ABRUPT CLINIC CLOSURES HAVE ALSO STRUCK A NERVE.

>> I'VE HEARD A LOT OF DISAPPOINTMENT FROM CONSTITUENTS.

>> Kaomi: IN ST.

PETER THERE'S STILL CARE THROUGH THE HOSPITAL, BUT THE COUNCIL WOMAN SAYS MAYO'S DEPARTURE HAS LEFT RURAL RESIDENTS WITH FEWER OPTIONS.

>> I THINK IN AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE, YOU KNOW, YOU GO TO MAKE A PRIMARY HEALTHCARE APPOINTMENT, AND YOU HAVE TO WAIT EIGHT MONTHS JUST TO GET IN, I THINK THERE'S JUST OVERALL A LACK OF PROVIDERS, ESPECIALLY IN THESE RURAL AREAS.

>> Kaomi: TRANSPORTATION IS ANOTHER CONCERN, THOUGH MANKATO IS A 20-MINUTE DRIVE AWAY.

>> IF YOU RELY ON A SERVICE FOR YOUR MEDICAL TRANSPORTATION, I KNOW THAT THOSE NON-PROFITS AND THOSE SYSTEMS ARE BEING STRETCHED RIGHT NOW.

>> Kaomi: A MANKATO NON-PROFIT OPERATES THE TRUE TRANSIT SHUTTLE SERVICE.

RIDES ARE BY RESERVATION AND IT SERVES COUNTIES.

LAST YEAR IT HAD 13,000 RIDERS.

IT'S ONE OF THE FEW WAYS FOR MAYO PATIENTS WITHOUT A CAR TO NOW GET TO MANKATO.

>> WE DO FILL ONE.

LIKE, IF YOU WERE TO CALL TODAY, THIS AFTERNOON NOW, IT MIGHT BE DIFFICULT TO GET A RIDE TOMORROW.

AT THE EXACT TIME YOU WANT.

>> Kaomi: AND THE ERVICE IS ONLY CURB TO CURB.

IT CAN'T HELP RIDERS FROM THEIR HOUSE TO THE BUS.

IF MAYO'S PLAN IS TO GET PATIENTS TO FOLLOW DOCTORS TO THEIR HUBS, IT MAY BACKFIRE.

>> WE'VE SEEN AN INCREASE IN PATIENTS COME TO SEE US.

>> Kaomi: MORE THAN 400 NEW PATIENTS HAVE COME TOGETHER MAIRKT CLINIC IN ST.

PETER SINCE MAYO CLOSED.

THAT'S MORE THAN A 200% INCREASE FROM THE SAME TIME PERIOD A YEAR AGO.

CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER ANDREW LINDQUIST SAYS THEY'VE HAD TO HIRE STAFF TO KEEP UP.

>> IT'S A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR US, YES.

WE ARE FULLY INVESTED IN THIS COMMUNITY.

AND SOUTHERN MINNESOTA.

>> Kaomi: ALTHOUGH PATIENT VOLUMES ARE DOWN SYSTEM-WIDE, HE SAYS THE INDEPENDENT PHYSICIAN-OWNED LINIC HAS NO PLANS TO CONSOLIDATE.

>> THAT'S NOT A PART OF OUR DNA.

>> Kaomi: SOME ST.

PETER EMPLOYERS ONLY OFFER MAYO PLAN HEALTH COVERAGE.

OTHERS HAVE HAD LONG RELATIONSHIPS WITH THEIR MAYO DOCTORS.

RETIRED GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS PROFESSOR HAVE BEEN MAYO PATIENTS IN ST.

PETER FOR DECADES.

>> I'D SAY ANGER IS A MAJOR FOR ME.

THEY BOUGHT A CLINIC.

THEY IMPROVED IT.

THEY MADE A LOT OF IMPROVEMENTS, AND THEN THEY LEAVE.

>> Kaomi: BOTH IN THEIR 70s, THE PAULS NOW GO TO MERIT TO SEE THEIR PRIMARY DOCTOR.

76-YEAR-OLD GARRETT PAUL IS RECOVERING FROM A FALL AND TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY.

>> THIS IS ADDING ANOTHER TRIP TO MANKATO.

WE'RE VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THE RURAL POPULATION.

OUTSIDE OF TOWN.

AND HOW THEY WILL GET THERE.

>> AND THE DEPENDENCY OF OLDER PEOPLE ON