FAIRMONT–On Monday it was announced that St. Croix Hospice will be acquiring Mayo Clinic Health System hospice operations in Southwest Minnesota. This development comes several months after Mayo announced it would be ending surgical, labor and delivery services at the Fairmont location.

According to the Mayo Clinic Health System website, Mayo hospice has been serving south-central Minnesota and surrounding communities including Arlington, Elysian, Fairmont, Gaylord, Janesville, Le Center, Madelia, Mankato, Mapleton, Minnesota Lake, Nicollet, St. James, St. Peter, Waseca, Wells and Winthrop.

St. Croix Hospice is based out of Oakdale, Minn. and has more than 75 branches across 10 states. Its nearest locations to Fairmont are Mankato and Albert Lea.

The only comment Mayo could provide came via a press release from Dr. Karthik Ghosh, vice president of Mayo Clinic Health System in Minnesota, who said, “Over the past several years, we have collaborated with St. Croix Hospice in the care of our hospice patients and respect their shared commitment for compassion, high-quality end-of-life care. This transition is a natural alignment of values and will help strengthen and ensure the long-term success of hospice services across Southwest Minnesota.”

St. Croix Hospice also declined to comment beyond what was included in the press release where CEO Heath Bartness said, “We appreciate our long-standing referral relationship with Mayo Clinic Health System and are pleased they have selected St. Croix Hospice to continue their tradition of clinical excellence of their program in Southwest Minnesota.”

The agreement remains subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025.