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Guest column by Martha Sichko

My commitment to health care in Albert Lea runs deep in my DNA, with my grandmother’s and mother’s Naeve Hospital Auxiliary service totaling 75 years. We all have ties to community members who generously contributed to the Naeve Health Care Foundation. Witnessing what this foundation and health care in Albert Lea have become is heartbreaking.

So, when Sue Loch writes about health care in her recent column, her words are as empty as the halls of our shuttered hospital. Mayo Clinic’s betrayal continues, and her unsubstantiated claims invite scrutiny. Here’s why:

The Naeve Foundation holds $5.7 million raised by citizens who wanted patients to receive superior care and ensure the sustainability of Naeve Hospital (now Mayo). Many may not realize that those millions can only support Mayo — a $16 billion nonprofit that dismantled our hospital and medical services. (2021 990 Report; Post Bulletin, Nov. 2023)

This disassembling of health care and jobs left gaping wounds of unmet needs in our community. Of course, donors, citizens and elected officials sought the Naeve Foundation to help patients. Disappointingly, Mayo-aligned board members blocked the request to amend bylaws to expand funding for additional community health needs.

Mayo shouldn’t control the board, as the foundation is an independent entity supporting donors’ and patients’ interests, reinforcing why ethical concerns plague Mayo’s role in Albert Lea.

More questionable ethics continue with a Mayo employee as the administrator of the foundation’s millions and simultaneously as Mayo’s community relations coordinator, raising alarms about bias in overseeing funds.

One wonders how that employee can act in good faith on behalf of donors and Albert Lea when managing gifts to the organization that pays her salary.

Whether or not those double roles violate Minnesota’s charity laws, they undeniably pose a conflict of interest.

Also troubling is the lack of transparency on the foundation’s outdated website, which shows no recent gifts or IRS reports. Also worth scrutiny is that a sizable portion of the $4 million donated since 1998 has been for equipment in clinics and departments that Mayo closed (e.g., $200K for vacant special care unit). What happened to all that equipment?

In this paper, Betty Soukup, a past fundraiser for our defunct hospital, expressed sorrow about unintentionally misleading donors. Many join her in struggling to reconcile that Mayo took millions from the foundation while making billions from patients, but leaving no medical beds, ICU or birthing center.

More concerns occurred at a Freeborn County public health meeting on Jan. 10, where priorities of access, mental health and transportation were discussed. Knowing there is a fund with millions, the question was posed if the foundation could help those areas. The foundation’s administrator (the Mayo employee) responded, “The board would never change the bylaws.” She refused to discuss the matter.

Hoarding money isn’t helping patients.

Another ethical problem is that for years, Mayo pays transportation for seniors in Austin needing SMART Transit to and from their Mayo Clinic. Yet, Mayo doesn’t cover the same services for seniors in Albert Lea, despite calling us one entity.

The consolidation has hurt seniors, and they have shared their stories of shivering in ER corridors, enduring 12-hour waits for transportation, only to discover they can’t get a bed in Austin or Rochester.

We have lost a local, consistent urologist, pediatrician, ENT, dermatologist and others. Appointments take months. This isn’t the higher level of care Mayo promised, and Albert Lea isn’t the premier outpatient clinic. Mayo’s pledge of $14.9 million in “enhancements” and an ER remodel haven’t materialized.
Remember, people pay 30% more for Mayo’s community care without evidence of better outcomes. (Minnesota Community Measurement-Total Cost of Care, 2022)

Mayo loses credibility with its never-ending narrative of the physician shortage as an explanation for every problem. Their misleading statements overlook their role in driving away numerous skilled doctors who flourished as rural physicians. Physicians who left conveyed the administration restricted their patient time and autonomy and buried them with excessive administrative duties.

Mayo, unlike other health systems in Minnesota, has multi-millions in operating income to address the shortage problem. Pull from the $5 billion for Rochester buildings to prioritize healthcare professionals over ego-branding.

If Mayo disdains Albert Lea, sell the hospital. Maybe the city won’t have a marque brand, but we could have a provider committed to our patients. Why is Mayo in community care? Their focus is academic medicine, where they excel, and brilliant physician-researchers benefit patients everywhere.

History will record the needless betrayal of Albert Lea’s hospital and Naeve Foundation. Those administrators who didn’t help — broke the trust of patients and donors, leaving a regrettable legacy.

Mayo needs to hear from you. Ask for improved services, paid transportation, expanded funding and reinstated medical specialties because you deserve better.

Martha J. Sichko is an advocate for seniors, fighting for affordable, accessible health care and welcoming the continuation of this topic.