Town Hall to Save Bethesda and St. Joseph's Hospitals

M Health Fairview has already begun drastic cuts to Healtheast Hospitals. They have announced that as early as February nearly half the staff positions at Bethesda Hospital are being eliminated, and St. Joseph’s may be closed within 3 years. These cuts will drastically affect patients in St. Paul and cause a ripple effect of overcrowding as other Twin Cities hospitals try to keep up.

In addition M Health Fairview has started the process to eliminate other important and unique programs. One of these is the Minnesota Chemical Dependency Program for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Individuals. This program has been in operation since 1989 and is one of the only specialized residential treatment programs serving clients nationally that is linguistically and culturally appropriate to meet the needs of Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Deaf-Blind individuals.

Fairview has kept all of us in the dark over their plans, which have been in the works for months. In response a coalition of concerned community members, community organization leaders, nurses, doctors and patients has been formed. We say NO CUTS! NO CLOSURES! ALL PEOPLE DESERVE QUALITY CARE IN MINNESOTA! We want to hear from you. How would closing these programs and/or entire hospitals affect you and your community?