Update on healthcare

Dear faculty and staff,

Since March, we have been working diligently with the Attorney General’s office and the appointed strategic facilitator to chart a path forward that allows the University to sustain its commitment to our land-grant mission of clinical care, medical education and research discovery.

Thus far, our good-faith efforts to reach an agreement with Fairview have not been successful, but we remain committed to discussions with Fairview, Essentia and other Twin Cities and Minnesota providers.

We still have a path forward.

The University of Minnesota represents one of Minnesota’s greatest public assets. It’s the collective responsibility of all parties to ensure that patients across Minnesota continue to benefit from the life-saving care and groundbreaking innovation we provide for generations to come, while sustaining the University's vital role in educating the state’s physicians and other essential healthcare professionals.

Throughout the negotiations, the University has been firm that a proposed agreement must ensure the future health and sustainability of the University of Minnesota Medical School.

Any agreement must fairly compensate our faculty physicians and maintain our on-campus hospitals, demonstrating that we hold ourselves to the same high standard of care our patients have always received. We have also been firm that any agreement must ensure an appropriate governance role for the University and the Board of Regents elected to serve Minnesota and fulfill our land-grant mission.

All of these parameters have been set forth for one singular purpose—to ensure that our faculty and staff can continue to deliver clinical care, medical education, groundbreaking research and service to Minnesota.

We are fully committed to envisioning a model that sustains the viability of the University of Minnesota Medical School and meets the current and future needs of patients, students, faculty, nurses, staff and the state. That model must ensure our faculty can compete and thrive in their educational, clinical and research missions.

As Minnesota’s healthcare leader, we will continue to do what we do on a daily basis: deliver world-class care to our patients.

Thank you to all who are continuing to provide the excellent care and instruction that sets us apart. We will share more information about our path forward as it becomes available.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Cunningham
President

Jakub Tolar
Dean of the Medical School
Vice President for Clinical Affairs