SPI Insights

As part of its systemwide strategic plan, MPact 2025, the University of Minnesota is seeking opportunities for partnerships with health systems that will maximize its statewide impact in health care innovations and research. The university has made several goals, which include acquiring medical facilities, increasing funding and building a new hospital on campus.

Courtesy of the University of Minnesota.

The university is seeking state and community investments to upgrade medical facilities that bridge the present medical centers to a new hospital that would encompass several blocks. The new hospital will be located on the Twin Cities’ East Bank campus and will take at least five years to develop, costing approximately $1 billion. Necessary public funding has not been secured, so more cost estimates and detailed planning need to occur before construction can begin. The university is looking for support from the governor, the state legislature and community leaders to help fund this vision. The university expects to staff the new hospital with 1,500 physicians and health professionals who are currently working on campus.

The university plans to own, govern and control all existing health care facilities on the Twin Cities campus, which Fairview Health Services currently owns. Without Fairview, the medical center could lose up to $80 million worth of support annually. The university’s medical center is a teaching hospital that was struggling financially until Fairview bought it some 25 years ago. The school plans on buying back its health care facilities from Fairview Health Services. In November, Fairview Health Services, a Minneapolis-based health system, announced plans to merge with Sanford Health, which is based in South Dakota. It’s a move some people are criticizing.