HealthPartners and Essentia Health announced plans to combine into one healthcare system in an attempt to expand care access across Minnesota and the upper Midwest.<\/p>\n
The nonprofits\u2019 boards of directors approved the acquisition on Tuesday, and if regulators approve the plan, it would take effect at the start of 2027, with the combined system operating under the HealthPartners name.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis combination is about doing more for the people and communities who count on us,\u201d said HealthPartners President and CEO Andrea Walsh. \u201cHealthPartners and Essentia Health share a belief that everyone deserves access to high-quality care and coverage, close to home and centered on their needs. Together, we can build on the strengths of both organizations to improve health, expand access and create a stronger future for the communities we serve.\u201d<\/p>\n
The combined organization would include 22 hospitals, more than 135 clinics and 6,000 clinicians. Essentia facilities in northern Minnesota and North Dakota will stick to their name during the transition but will later be called HealthPartners.<\/p>\n
Patients at the facilities should not expect any changes or interruption to their care or coverage during the transition, the healthcare systems said.<\/p>\n
Walsh will lead the new organization, and Essentia Health CEO David Herman will serve as president of combined clinical care group operations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019re doing right now, is we\u2019re leading,\u201d Herman said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe see it as two strong organizations coming together to improve health and well-being across our region,\u201d Walsh added.<\/p>\n
This marks the third high-profile transaction involving Minnesota healthcare systems to be set in motion this year.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison green-lit South Dakota-based Sanford Health\u2019s purchase of North Memorial Health<\/a>. California-based Sutter Health\u2019s proposed acquisition of Allina Health<\/a> is still pending. <\/p>\n Sanford had previously attempted to purchase Fairview Health Services, but that deal fell through<\/a>.<\/p>\n In a statement, a coalition of healthcare unions said Tuesday\u2019s announcement brings more uncertainty for an industry that\u2019s facing increasing consolidation and reshuffling.<\/p>\n \u201cAs with the other deals, workers are worried about cuts to jobs and services, and patients are worried about rising costs,\u201d the unions said. \u201cThese are real concerns for Minnesotans across our state, and we are once again calling on Attorney General Keith Ellison to use his power within the law to provide oversight into this proposed merger and ensure the interests of Minnesota\u2019s workers and patients are protected.\u201d<\/p>\n In response, Herman said, \u201cWe look forward to sitting down and discussing those and answering the questions that they have.\u201d<\/p>\n Walsh added, \u201cWe have strong labor relations, and I think hearing out what the concerns are \u2026 will be important to do in the coming days.\u201d<\/p>\n Ellison\u2019s office said on Tuesday it is gathering feedback<\/a> during its review of the proposed HealthPartners-Essentia deal to determine if it is in the public interest.<\/p>\n \u201cHistorically, the evidence has shown that mergers and acquisitions in the healthcare space directly lead to reductions in service, reductions in access and increased prices. When there\u2019s less competition, prices go up,\u201d said Chris Rubesch, the president of the Minnesota Nurses Association.<\/p>\n The union is calling for a transparent review of the deal\u2019s impact on jobs, patient choice, insurance networks and access to care.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll be looking for the healthcare companies to not just commit verbally to any of these agreements, but to commit in writing, binding agreements that protect patient access to care, protect costs, and protect employees,\u201d Rubesch said.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFor Related Stories:\u00a0Healthcare<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Essentia Health<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0HealthPartners<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Kamaria Braye<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HealthPartners and Essentia Health announced plans to combine into one healthcare system in an attempt to expand care…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":631877,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[285355,163,521,285356,85,46,285698],"class_list":["post-631876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-essentia-health","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-healthpartners","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-kamaria-braye"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=631876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631876\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/631877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=631876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=631876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=631876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}