Our goal was originally to work with our existing healthcare provider, after their abrupt decision to discontinue services within our community - including ICU (Special Care), all Medical and In-Patient Surgical care, and Labor/Delivery services. However, our fate was not solely tied to our current provider.

 

We had found ourselves buyers of premium insurance plans for services less than desirable here in Albert Lea. In fact, we found that we were paying very high premiums for coverage without the ability to receive those premium services here at home. Traditionally, routine services were not being provided here, they were being assessed here and services outsourced to the current provider's world headquarters - about 65 miles away from home. And the prices we pay as insurance consumers and insurance payees (employers) did not reflect that true-world fact.

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We united, with the support of hundreds of citizens to create and build an organization to own and control a healthcare site in our community. We believe that if we own the facility and control the bidding process for services (small and great), we can establish and maintain control of the types of services offered in our immediate area. Whether that be a single provider of all services under one roof, or multiple suppliers of multiple services under one roof. 

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With the purchase of a site, and a long-term plan which included the immediate, intermediate, and long-term healthcare needs of our community in mind, we sought the partnership of a healthcare provider which truly recognized and valued the rural healthcare needs of Southern Minnesota. Yes, smack dab in the middle of a mulit-national, multi-billion-dollar healthcare monopoly... where patients are seen by providers serving multiple locations in a limited clinic setting and routed to headquarters for further testing and treatments. Our members and leaders recognized that we are part of a feeder system, and that our site here in Albert Lea was consciously designed to feed patients to the main site.

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We broadened our horizons further, and created a fully independent not-for-profit charitable organization with a defined mission: promote the overall health and wellness of the residents of Albert Lea, Freeborn County and surrounding communities.  This objective included the promotion of healthcare market competition, the expansion of access to essential healthcare services, and the improvement of healthcare outcomes for the residents of Albert Lea, Freeborn County and surrounding communities.

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Thus, our path led to the acquisition of an independently-owned building that we could develop into a planned healthcare facility in the Northbridge Mall; where Herberger's was once an anchoring staple of our community, but had since fallen to the wayside in the ever-changing shopping landscape of our nation. Ironic, a staple that went away due to new 'shopping' norms became the home to our new site - a response to the new healthcare purchasing norms of our economy. A consumerism approach to healthcare and health insurance where the price of services at home varied widely from the breadth of services provided here at home.

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Enter... MercyOne. After an exhaustive bidding process for services and partnership, the Organization selected the proposal of MercyOne North Iowa for the establishment of services at our site. In addition to being a competitively priced partner for services, MercyOne showed true passion, commitment and heart for the rural healthcare patient. From regular annual checkups to the most complicated procedures, MercyOne has the resources and commitment to provide our community with the service, value, and compassion to Live Our Best Life here in our rural community.

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