(ABC 6 News) – The Minnesota Nursing Association chairs at the Allina-Health-owned Owatonna Hospital said Wednesday, Sept. 18, that Mayo Clinic Rochester directly contributed to layoffs.

MNA chairs Michelle Sorensen and Angela Ruhter released the following statement:

“Nurses are very concerned about the recent announcement from Allina Health that they will be laying off nurses at Owatonna Hospital in the OR and Ambulatory Surgery units. We are particularly concerned by the role the Mayo Clinic is playing in this decision and the impact it will have on the Owatonna community.  

At the Owatonna Hospital, Allina handles the acute care, and Mayo overseas the clinical side. This means that Mayo is supposed to supply surgeons to the Allina side. Because Mayo has stopped doing this, there are less surgeons available. In addition, Mayo has stopped referring patients to Allina and refer them instead to the Mayo Rochester campus. This has resulted in a dramatic decrease in work for our nurses. 

Once again, corporate healthcare executives at Mayo who have no connection to the community are making decisions that negatively affect nurses and patients. There has been no transparency about the decision-making process or input from nurses and other healthcare workers on how this will affect care in Owatonna. We strongly encourage Allina and Mayo to reconsider this short-sighted decision and work with us to come up with a solution that does not require laying off nurses and downgrading the care available at our hospital.”