Mayo temporarily closes 5 clinics in southern Minnesota amid COVID surge
The Mayo Clinic Health System is temporarily closing five of its clinics in southeast Minnesota to help with the ongoing surge of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in its other hospitals.
The Mayo says that operations have temporarily been suspended at its Belle Plaine clinic already, and four more will follow on Monday, Dec. 7.
These are in Northridge, Le Sueur, Janesville and Waterville.
"The suspensions are necessary to reallocate staffing resources to other critical care needs in response to the COVID-19 surge," the health system announced.
The closures are expected to last for six weeks, covering the period after Thanksgiving and Christmas where cases are expected to spike due to holiday gatherings.
In the interim, patients of each clinic will have care options including visiting other Mayo sites, the 24/7 Nurse Line and Express Care Online, and virtual care visits.
The Mayo says it has been majorly impacted by COVID-19 at its main hospitals, saying that in mid-November it had seen more than 900 staff members test positive for the virus in the previous two weeks.