Closed: Blooming Prairie’s part-time clinic

Mayo Clinic Health System’s part-time clinic and pharmacy in Blooming Prairie is officially closed.
In October, Mayo announced that it would not renew the clinic’s lease agreement at the end of the year in Blooming Prairie. The clinic had been closed temporarily since March because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before March, the clinic had been open just one day a week.
Back in October, Mayo Clinic said in a news release that although the clinic is closing, staff would continue to work at other locations with no positions being eliminated.
Mayo will continue to serve patients in Blooming Prairie through either in-person visits at nearby locations in  Owatonna and Austin, or virtual meetings through patient portals, according to the October news release.
Although Mayo could not be reached last week for comment on the closure, Blooming Prairie City Administrator Andrew Langholz said the move had been in the works for years and years.
As far as getting prescriptions from a pharmacy, Langholz said residents of the Blooming Prairie area have two options: they can choose another pharmacy in a nearby community or they can get their prescriptions by mail.
“They’re pushing those other ways to get prescriptions, but it’s still not as convenient as getting it the same day or the next day when the pharmacy was here,” said Langholz.
“Mayo is working with us to generate ideas on how they can still serve the community,” said Langholz, adding that the clinic is hosting meetings with community stakeholders.
While preliminary discussions offer no guarantees, Langholz said  it’s a good sign.
“They’re not abandoning us,” he said. “They still want to serve the community and we’ll try to work with them the best we can.”