BEMIDJI — Sanford Health intends to shut down an inpatient rehabilitation unit in the Bemidji hospital as leaders say it is no longer sustainable.
The Minnesota Department of Health hosted a virtual public hearing Wednesday, Jan. 17, on the planned April closure at the Sanford Bemidji Medical Center. The acute rehabilitation unit provides services for patients with significant functional disabilities associated with stroke, spinal cord injuries, acquired brain injuries and major trauma.
The Bemidji hospital is licensed for 118 beds and admits 5,800 patients per year, according to a presentation by hospital leadership. Since the unit’s opening in 1999, beds have fluctuated over the years, reaching a peak of 14. In 2020, hospital officials temporarily converted the unit to care for COVID-19 patients. Last summer, restructuring brought the unit down to five beds.
Sanford leadership cited advancement in medicine and changes in what insurance companies will cover as justification to no longer provide the service.
Sanford Health of Northern Minnesota President and CEO Karla Eischens said while this unit helped so many in the community over the years, it is no longer sustainable.
"We have tried for the last few years to resize and restructure,” she said during the public hearing. “We know that this has been a great service for our community. We have patients and caregivers that have amazing stories.
“What has happened as we have tried to continue to resize it, is whether you have a 20-bed unit or a 5-bed unit, you have some minimum [staffing] requirements to have an acute rehab unit.”
The five remaining beds in the unit will be converted to inpatient care beds with the hospital’s medical/surgical/orthopedics department.
Eischens and other members of the leadership team at Sanford Bemidji answered a handful of questions on the medical center’s plan for these patients. After this unit’s closure, the nearest acute rehab facilities will be in Grand Forks and Fargo. Those patients who do not meet the criteria for acute rehab but still need additional short-term rehabilitation care would be moved to a “swing bed” in another unit.
A recent change in Minnesota law requires public hearings when hospitals plan to close a unit. These hearings must be facilitated by the Minnesota Department of Health.
The health department plans to host another virtual public hearing Jan. 30 on Essentia Health-Fosston’s closure of its OB-GYN department.
