BLAINE, Minn. – (Sept. 15, 2016) – This week the North Suburban Hospital District Board voted unanimously to dissolve. The hospital district founded Unity Hospital and owns the building and the land it sits on. They also levy $1.7 million dollars annually from property owners in Blaine, Fridley, Hilltop, Mounds View and Spring Lake Park to financially support the hospital.
The dissolution will likely take a year or two to finalize since they still have to complete all of their financial dealings, and gain city support; but they did decide not to levy taxes in 2017.
This dissolution comes after three candidates were running for the hospital board on the platform of Save our Hospital. They had raised concerns over the pending hospital merger between Mercy and Unity Hospitals. The Save our Hospital platform wants Unity to remain a full service, community hospital. Allina has plans to shift some departments to either Mercy or Unity, as they have already done with labor and delivery.
The board said the with the pending hospital merger, they have lost any authority in the hospital and their role has simply come to an end. Save our Hospital says that they have reached out to the Minnesota Attorney General’s office and plans to follow up to ask them to investigate the board’s actions.
