I attended the first meeting of the Albert Lea community with the Rochester Mayo representatives and city and county representatives. One big question is why was the announcement the first we heard about Mayo changing our lifestyle? The fact that it was kept undercover and no information let out to the community for input is one large mistake on the part of Mayo. We are a wonderful community and are able to be talked to if given a chance.

After the community meeting, I left wondering what some of the reasoning was for the decisions made. We don’t need a sell job we need clear explanations. I do not understand how taking away our OB-GYN services is beneficial to anyone. We are within a helicopter ride from Rochester if things go wrong for moms or babies and that has worked for many years!

Also, I question a decision to put the ICU in Austin, which could immediately forward patients to Rochester if needed, being 20 minutes closer to Rochester Mayo. You leave western and southern Minnesota Mayo Clinic Health System patients another 25 minutes to an ICU facility beside the 20-minute drive they already have to Albert Lea. I would hope you have considered how much time they spend in transit before reaching a qualified unit. As you are aware time is of the essence in times like these.

The fact that you have just now considered what to do with outpatient surgery patients needing to be kept for observation overnight tells me you could take some time to reconsider the only option you have given us. We don’t need to hear that “we will be working through this for some time.” It is not consoling to our community as we have had services here without question.

In emergency situations, time is so important, and your representative managed to equate it with a 20-mile trip for ice cream. We don’t want to be condescended to. We ask to be treated as a thoughtful community that truly cares about our future as a community.

Also, there were no figures on operation costs between Austin and Albert Lea. Maybe this is purposeful since possibly Albert Lea is ahead of Austin? We wouldn’t know as that was not shared with us. Mayo has backed off of promises made to our community when they began here. It was promised that we would lose no services.

The fact that a major change was not brought to the community and in fact no people outside the Mayo system were included in the decision making committee is unacceptable.

There are many things that I could address but want it known that Albert Lea citizens will not stand by and accept this process without being considered in the decision. Please allow us input before final decisions are made, and above all, be transparent so you don’t lose more of our trust in Mayo. Austin is definitely getting a much better share of this and it is not a 50/50 operation as was stated.

Janice Hammer

Albert Lea