EXCERPT: “Mayo Clinic on Wednesday announced it will close facilities in Springfield and Lamberton in southwestern Minnesota early next year, continuing a trend of closures and service cuts in rural areas. Mayo Clinic has closed or consolidated at least 16 facilities in southern Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa since 2009, reflecting what Mayo says are mounting demographic and financial pressures facing rural health care. The latest announcement involves a clinic in Lamberton and a hospital and clinic in Springfield. Mayo officials say the closures, slated for March 2020, will affect 60 people working in these southern Minnesota facilities. ‘The reasoning behind this very difficult decision … stems from what is happening in the rural health care crisis that we’re seeing not only in Minnesota, but across the U.S.,’ said Dr. James Hebl, regional vice president for Mayo Clinic’s health system in the southwestern part of the state. ‘Mayo Clinic is certainly not immune to the challenges of rural health care.'” FULL STORY: http://bit.ly/2RpfqA4
