Minneapolis-based Allina Health is consolidating labor and delivery services in southern Minnesota and will close the birth center at Faribault (Minn.) Medical Center Dec. 1, according to a Nov. 6 health system news release.
The move comes after Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic Health System notified Allina in September that it will end on-call OB-GYN physician services at Allina’s Owatonna (Minn.) Hospital Nov. 17. Under a joint agreement, Allina operates the hospital and Mayo operates the clinic on the same campus. Allina said it will assume responsibility for on-call labor and delivery coverage and transition to a regional obstetric care model.
Allina said its OB provider team cannot sustain two birth centers. Moving forward, inpatient labor and delivery services will be centralized at Owatonna Hospital. Outpatient care — including prenatal, postpartum, gynecologic, newborn and pediatric services — will continue in Faribault and begin in Owatonna in early December.
The system also plans to end pediatric admissions at Faribault Medical Center May 7, 2026, due to low volumes. Pediatric admissions will continue at Owatonna Hospital.
Additionally, emergency surgical coverage in Faribault will no longer be available on evenings and weekends beginning Dec. 1 due to anesthesia staffing limits, Allina said. Patients needing urgent procedures during those hours will be transferred to Owatonna Hospital or an Allina metro location. Surgeons will remain on call.
Allina emphasized its commitment to working with patients and employees affected by the new model and said it is coordinating with the Minnesota Department of Health, which includes scheduling a public hearing.
“We’re still working through the impact,” a spokesperson told Becker’s. “We are also working to identify open roles for care team members.”
The Minnesota Nurses Association condemned Allina’s decision, saying it “will deprive patients and families across southern Minnesota of critical, local access to maternity care.”
Allina is a nonprofit system with 12 hospital campuses, more than 60 primary care clinics, 20 same-day and urgent care centers, and more than 27,800 employees.
