Update: Health and healthcare negotiations
Colleagues,
In January the University of Minnesota reached a Mediated Settlement Agreement with Fairview Health Services and M Physicians that established a framework for the future of our partnership. While this was an important step forward, it was not the finish line.
The Mediated Settlement Agreement set a deadline of March 31 to establish specific, updated definitive agreements with both parties that will guide and govern our relationships going forward. While that deadline has passed, the University has not wavered in its commitment to good-faith negotiations and getting the details of these important agreements right. The University is working diligently and remains fully committed to and hopeful that we will forge final agreements with both parties.
Negotiations of this nature require good-faith collaboration, compromise and engagement from all parties. Online news coverage posted late this afternoon about the status of negotiations does not reflect how the University has shown up in this process. To be clear – the University has been fully engaged in complex and time-consuming negotiations since December. The University had further meetings today, with more formal mediation discussions scheduled next week. The University remains at the table, negotiating in good faith, just as we have been every single day since this began.
These are more than administrative documents. They are detailed, legal agreements with long-term impacts on the University’s health enterprise—and on Minnesota.
- With Fairview we are focused on how we continue to manage and advance research and education through our relationship with the health system.
- With M Physicians we are focused on governance and funds flow that is consistent with our top 30 peers and supports alignment, partnership and sustainability.
The details matter because having a thriving Medical School matters to Minnesota. These agreements impact our ability to retain and attract top faculty, advance discovery and innovation, maintain our accreditation, complete clinical trials, have research agreements in place, and support our departments in advancing their mission.
The University is at the table, and we aren’t leaving. We are continuing to do the hard work to bring clarity and strengthen these relationships for the future. Our focus is and always has been on you—and on the health interests of Minnesota.
Thank you for your continued commitment and support as we work to bring these complex negotiations to closure.
Rebecca Cunningham
President
Carol Bradford
Interim Dean of the Medical School
Interim Executive Vice President Health Affairs