‘Disheartening.’ ‘Frustrating.’

Ashley Thorson came to Owatonna as a women’s health care provider.

“We have three small children, and when we were looking at where we wanted to settle down, we really felt drawn to this community because of everything it offered to us as a growing family,” she said.

Now, the community may well be facing a future without services vital to young and growing families.

Mayo Clinic Health System announced earlier this month that it plans to end on-call labor and delivery services in Owatonna as of Nov. 17. Women in labor would be diverted to other hospitals, with the closest roughly 40 minutes away.

Mayo operates the Owatonna Clinic, and Allina Health operates the Owatonna hospital, all on a campus in northwest Owatonna. Allina provides labor and delivery nurses. Mayo notified Allina in September that it would stop providing obstetricians at the hospital.

The Owatonna Chamber of Commerce & Tourism caught wind of the change, and, on Oct. 17, its board of directors voted to oppose the move. Last week, Owatonna city council members approved a letter supporting that position.

Thorson said their action meant a lot.

“I am very concerned about the impact this will have in the future, years and year ahead in this community,” she said. “Labor and delivery nursing is highly specialized. We are very fortunate to have incredible talent with labor and delivery. The longer this takes to find a solution, the higher the risk we have of losing that as well.”

City administrator Jenna Tuma said having that essential service is important not only for Owatonna residents, because “we serve as a regional hub for many people.” The council’s letter, she said, "speaks to the urgency of getting this gap in services closed.”

Council member David Burbank said he understood what Mayo is doing but is “pretty disappointed.”

“If I were a young guy just coming to town freshly married and found out you can’t have a baby in Owatonna anymore, and you have a clinic siting out there empty, I wouldn’t be too happy,” he said. "I hope Mayo understands we have a quality of life that we’re willing to fight for.”

Council president Kevin Raney called the move “extremely disheartening" and “frustrating.” "We are a regional hub,” he said. “It is extremely frustrating that a community of 28,000 people could potentially be without birthing services. There are no birthing services in Waseca, Albert Lea.… We are in a birthing desert. It’s gotta stop.”

Mayor Matt Jessop also pointed out that Owatonna has over the past couple of years “been stripped of local health care opportunities” as Mayo “is consistently downsizing operations.”

“The loss of local maternity care will have a lasting negative affect on all of Owatonna,” he said. “This is not about the providers. These providers care. This is about the system. It’s time t put patients and not profits first. And it’s time to give the people of Owatonna and the region around it the health care they deserve and need.”

Officials called on Allina and Mayo to find a solution, rather than eliminating the services. Raney said the council’s efforts won’t stop at just a letter.

"Our goal is to bring (a solution) to fruition, and we are very hopeful that we will have a successful ending,” he said. “What we need is both sides to come to the table.”