Essentia Health-Fosston Public Meeting On OB Services

FOSSTON, MN—Between virtual and in-person attendance, about 175 people participated in Tuesday’s meeting in Fosston regarding Essentia Health-Fosston’s decision to remove OB services from the hospital.  The meeting, which was sponsored by the Minnesota Department of Health, allowed the public to ask questions of Essentia Health management.  Essentia President Mark Thompson produced several statistics claiming its Fosston hospital has an average of 72 births per year and the average number of births needed to safely provide labor and delivery care is 200.  When it was the public’s turn to comment, several people expressed concern over not having labor and delivery options within a safe driving distance.  Also, Fosston Mayor Jim Offerdahl asked why a meeting wasn’t scheduled 120 days after Essentia-Fosston chose to end delivery services in June 2022.  Maria King of the Minnesota Department of Health said they didn’t know about the change.   R&J News will have more on this story in later newscasts.