Mayo Clinic Plans Facility at Mall of America

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — Mayo Clinic announced today that it has signed a letter of intent to be part of the Phase II expansion of Mall of America®. Over the next 12 months, Mayo Clinic will define how the new facility will complement Mayo's existing presence in Minnesota and help bring its expertise to more people long-term.

VIDEO ALERT: Additional audio and video resources are available on the Mayo Clinic News Blog.

The Mall of America location provides an ideal opportunity for a gateway to Mayo Clinic for people in Minnesota and across the country. Initial concepts call for care delivery models that will help Mayo reach new patients. Services provided at Mall of America will enhance services offered at Mayo Clinic, not replicate them.

"Mall of America provides an opportunity to offer patient services outside of traditional care models and enhance convenience and connectivity to Mayo Clinic," said Glenn Forbes, M.D., CEO, Mayo Clinic Rochester. "Mayo Clinic's patient population aligns strongly with the Mall of America's guests. Mall of America draws more than 40 million visitors from over 32 countries, and it also has strong nationwide appeal. Likewise, Mayo Clinic is a destination for patients throughout the region, nation and world, so this is a wonderful opportunity to better meet the needs of our patients and build on the synergies of these two Minnesota destinations."

Some potential concepts for Mayo's new facility include, but are not limited to:

• New models for screening and prevention: Focus on testing, counseling and screening with prevention plan development.
• Services for new and returning Mayo Clinic patients: Helping patients with access, appointments, logistics and other questions related to Mayo Clinic services.
• Programs that ease/speed access to core Mayo Clinic programs, such as transplant.
• Comprehensive programs that meet the unique needs of international patients.
• Education/input opportunities: Unique, new ways to get broad input around new models for delivering care to patients; new products and service prototypes; and deliver health education to the general public.

"Mayo Clinic innovations throughout the years have helped transform the practice of medicine," said David Herman, M.D., a member of the Mayo Clinic Rochester Executive Board and Past Chair, Mayo Clinic Clinical Practices Committee, who is also leading the Gateway project. "Mayo's strength has been focusing on the needs of the patient while continually searching for ways to improve care delivery."

"This project builds on Mayo Clinic's tradition of innovation by focusing on the needs of the patient," Dr. Forbes said. "Mayo strives to create greater value for patients by developing care delivery models based on what patients want and need."

"Mayo Clinic's plan to establish a gateway at the Mall of America strengthens Minnesota's position as a destination for people seeking health care services from around the nation and world," said Governor Tim Pawlenty. "Both organizations enjoy national and international appeal. It makes perfect sense to build on each organization's assets to strengthen the economy of Minnesota."

"As consumers seek convenient access to quality healthcare, linking a medical facility with world class care like Mayo Clinic with an international destination like Mall of America is natural," said Maureen Bausch, executive vice president of business development at Mall of America. "This announcement adds momentum to our Phase II expansion plans and will help promote Minnesota as a travel destination, creating new jobs and tax revenue for our state."

A dedicated Mayo Clinic team led by Drs. Herman and Forbes will continue to work on the vision and strategy for the new facility and will work collaboratively with Mall of America and Bloomington officials to bring the new concepts to life over the next 12 months.

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About Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic is the first and largest integrated, not-for-profit group practice in the world. Doctors from every medical specialty work together to care for patients, joined by common systems and a philosophy of "the needs of the patient come first." More than 3,700 physicians, scientists and researchers, and 50,100 allied health staff work at Mayo Clinic, which has campuses in Rochester, Minn; Jacksonville, Fla; and Scottsdale/Phoenix, Ariz.; and community-based providers in more than 70 locations in southern Minnesota., western Wisconsin and northeast Iowa. These locations treat more than half a million people each year. To obtain the latest news releases from Mayo Clinic, go to www.mayoclinic.org/news. For information about research and education, visit www.mayo.edu. MayoClinic.com (www.mayoclinic.com) is available as a resource for your health stories.