Fosston Votes to End Hospital Affiliation Agreement with Essentia Health

In Fosston, elected officials voted recently to terminate the city’s affiliation agreement with Essentia Health.

The Fosston hospital has been operated by Essentia Health for the past 15 years, but after Essentia closed the labor and delivery services at the hospital in 2022, city leaders have been looking to end the affiliation agreement with Essentia. Their hope is to bring back labor and delivery to the hospital in the future and change to First Care Medical Services to administer services at the facility.

Essentia said in a statement they received the notice that city officials have voted to terminate the agreement and that they are reviewing the notice to determine their next steps. The statement says that Essentia does not believe the city has the right to terminate the affiliation agreement and that in September, a neutral arbitration panel ruled in Essentia’s favor.