Minnesota Prairie Roots

I’VE BEEN SITTING on pages and pages of notes from a community forum held in Faribault earlier this week on the proposed sale of Minnesota-based Allina Health to California-based Sutter Health. The Minnesota State Attorney General’s Office hosted the meeting, which drew around 200 people.

The intent of the listening session, according to Attorney General Keith Ellison, was to evaluate if the proposal is in the public interest. He cited concerns like wages, competition, unions and access to services. By state law (Statute 145D.01), Ellison is required to consider public input and then make a decision.

But Wednesday’s listening session, which allowed those who signed up in advance to comment for one minute each, seemed anything but a community-oriented event. Rather, Sutter flew in top leaders. Likewise Allina was well-represented by leaders and employees. This seemed well-orchestrated and slanted toward the proposed acquisition. Sixty-two people, nearly all healthcare leaders or professionals and others in leadership positions, spoke.

AVERAGE PERSON UNHEARD

I felt like the average person, the patients, the people in my city and surrounding areas served by Allina Health, were not well-represented. Maybe it’s their fault for not showing up more than they did. Maybe they weren’t aware of the meeting. Maybe they were, like me, intimidated by speaking before a crowd. Maybe jumping through the hoops to comment and/or register online and then waiting to learn the meeting location proved too technologically difficult. I think all factored into the voice of everyday people being mostly left unheard. Two friends of mine who registered online never received email notification of the meeting location.

I didn’t speak. I could have. But I’m uncomfortable standing in front of and addressing a large audience. I’d prefer a roundtable approach, where every voice, not just those of polished professionals, is heard, in person, not via a comment form.

AN IMPACTFUL STORY

Yet it was the voice of a rural Faribault resident who made the most impactful comment of the evening, in my opinion. And it was because of a personal story he shared. Stories connect us, proving to be undeniably powerful in making a point.

This man spoke of a neighbor finding him unresponsive, an ambulance transporting him to the Faribault hospital and then learning from his healthcare team that he had been within minutes of death. His point: He likely would not have survived a longer transport to a hospital in another community.

“If we have to go back to the municipal model, let’s do it,” he said. The Faribault hospital was community-owned until Allina bought Rice County District One Hospital in 2015. And now, 11 years later, change could be, likely will be, coming again with a large California-based healthcare nonprofit buying a smaller Minnesota healthcare nonprofit.

FROM OUT OF STATE & BIGGER

That concerns me—a much larger entity from out of state buying a healthcare system that currently provides services throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin, including in Faribault and neighboring Owatonna. Allina just recently closed Faribault’s birthing center.

The CEOs of both Allina and Sutter used the word “partnership” multiple times in describing the proposed purchase of Allina by Sutter. In my head, I was thinking, “Call it what it is, a “sale.”

EMPHASIS ON LOCAL CARE

Allina CEO Lisa Shannon, stating that “healthcare is in real trouble,” something we all know, promised access to affordable and high quality care, keeping the patient as close to home as possible. Likewise Sutter CEO Warner Thomas said several times that “Local care is best care.” I agree. I prefer local to going out of town for my healthcare, although I understand sometimes that’s necessary.

I hope the two CEOs mean what they said. Numerous commenters asked for assurances in writing to protect patients and employees. That seems a valid request.

TECHNOLOGY & FINAL THOUGHTS

The topic of technology also came up repeatedly in referencing benefits of the acquisition by Sutter Health. That bothered me, not because I don’t consider advances in technology in healthcare to be important, but because technology was emphasized so much. It is people who are at the heart of healthcare, not technology.

I could write much more about the positives and negatives expressed during the state-hosted listening session. But rather I’ll stop, hoping that the distrust, doubts and concerns I feel are unwarranted. I will continue to stay informed.

I hope, if this purchase happens, that healthcare in Faribault remains strong—available, accessible and affordable for everyone. That means no closures, no loss of services. I hope I can continue to get most of my healthcare locally from professionals I’ve grown to know and trust. That’s important to me, especially as an aging Baby Boomer.

THOUGHTS?

© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling