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U of M Medical School to add St. Cloud campus
University of Minnesota School of Medicine will partner with CentraCare to create a St. Cloud campus.
ST. CLOUD, Minn. — The dream of turning a vacant office building into a training ground for physicians took a big step towards reality on Monday.
The University of Minnesota Medical School and CentraCare health system formalized an agreement to add a St. Cloud campus, beginning in the autumn of 2025. Dr. Jakub Tolar, the dean of the medical school, and Dr. Ken Holmen, the CEO of CentraCare, signed the memorandum before a crowd of lawmakers and other stakeholders.
“This is a monumental moment for the state of Minnesota,” Dr. Tolar told KARE.
“If you look at this from a perspective of somebody who lives in what we call healthcare deserts or maternity deserts that means that woman is driving two hours back and forth to have a simple clinical visit, minus 20 degrees, two feet of snow.”
Tolar noted that it’s been 50 years since the medical school opened the Duluth campus, but that hasn’t made much of a dent in solving the shortage of care providers in more rural areas, often referred to as Greater Minnesota.
“If you want physicians to practice in Greater MInnesota you get them from Greater MInnesota, you train them there, and they will come back to the communities that are theirs.”
The new campus will accept its first class of 24 students in 2025 and will reach a full capacity of 96 students by the fourth year. CentraCare, a system with 30 clinics and nine hospitals, already hosts some medical residents who’ve graduated from medical school.
CentraCare’s leader, Dr. Ken Holmen, said the building was previously used by IT workers, who have since moved to other locations or are working from home. It’s strategically located next to the CentraCare Plaza, which houses physicians and other healthcare providers.
“CentraCare has the other assets out here; hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, physicians and nurses,” Dr. Holmen told KARE.
“So, the collaboration between the University of Minnesota and CentraCare is one where we can make sure they get a world-class education, both from an academic perspective but also from a clinical perspective.”
Holmen and Tolar both referred to the dwindling numbers of doctors in Greater Minnesota, which affects both health outcomes and the sense of community.
“It’s also about pride of town and place. It’s about economic development, keeping main street open. It’s about creating a vibrant future for the future generations,” Holmen remarked.
He said the total project will cost roughly $100 million. Some of that will come from CentraCare’s operating budget and some from the CentraCare Foundation. That foundation has pledged $50 million and has already raised $11 million of that.
The Minnesota Legislature dedicated $15 million to the project during the 2023 Session. Area lawmakers will seek an additional $13 million in bonding in the 2024 Session.
“We’ve learned that when you have a medical school in a community, students that come here and go to a medical school stay in that community,” Rep. Bernie Perryman, a former member of the CentraCare Foundation board, explained.
“So, after graduation that will be a benefit to our city of St. Cloud. They’ll stay. They’ll be residents here and they’ll raise their families here.”
Rep. Perryman said some of the prospective medical school students that have visited the CentraCare site have been surprised to hear there’s plenty of free parking. That’s definitely not the case with most medical schools located on campuses in metro areas around the nation.
The chief was discussing the shooting of Davis Maturi, who for months had been contact with the MPD about escalating harassment from his neighbor, John Sawchak.
MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said his department “failed” after a man was shot, allegedly by his neighbor in the city.
“We failed this victim. 100%, because that should not have happened to him,” said O’Hara in a Sunday evening press conference.
The chief was discussing the shooting of Davis Moturi, who for months had been contact with the MPD about escalating harassment from his neighbor, John Sawchak.
Sawchak was charged with shooting Moturi as he was pruning a tree on his front yard on Oct. 23.
Moturi remains hospitalized with a fractured spine, two broken ribs, and a concussion.
O’Hara and the MPD came under a heavy attack from the Minneapolis City Council after it was revealed that the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office had charged Sawchak, but the MPD had not arrested him.
“MPD still has not arrested the suspect despite charges from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office for Attempted Murder, 1st Degree Assault, Stalking, and Harassment and a request from the HCAO for a warrant with $1 million bail. MPD told the HCAO they do not intend to execute the warrant ‘for reasons of officer safety,’” said the letter from the Minneapolis City Council.
“We failed to act urgently enough,” said O’Hara, before citing staffing concerns as a contributing factor.
It was a stark difference from the tone the chief initially took on Friday, then saying “If we wound up in a deadly situation, the headlines would read ‘MPD shot mentally ill person’.”
On Sunday, O’Hara said his previous comments were meant as a response to accusations that the MPD “didn’t care,” about the case.
“This is the result of over-politicizing policing in Minneapolis,” said O’Hara.
O’Hara stated that the MPD will, for the moment, continue waiting for Sawchak to exit his home to arrest him, but the chief added “We are running out of options before we have to escalate the matter.”
The heated back-and-forth between the city council and the chief continued earlier Sunday when Minneapolis City Council member Emily Koski released a statement questioning O’Hara and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey actions in the matter.
“Our Chief of Police is hiding behind excuses, and our Mayor…is just hiding.” said Koski in the statement.
Cities across Minnesota expanded voting hours and locations for the upcoming presidential election.
MINNEAPOLIS — Expanded early voting hours and locations are giving Minnesotans more opportunities to cast their ballots before the general election.
Over 1,000 people visited Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services over the weekend to make their voice heard.
“We have always voted as a family. We have this right as Americans to vote, and we wanted him to know right from the get-go that you’ve got to vote in every single election because this is our voice, this is our opportunity to really pick the future that we want based on the candidate that we vote for,” said Kelly Wallander.
Kelly and her husband, Claude, picked up their son Harrison from college, so they could all vote in the general election for the first time as a family.
“It’s interesting. It’s cool to see elections on TV, basically as long as I can remember, and now know that I’m a part of it and being able to vote with my parents is cool,” Harrison said.
“I like voting early just because exactly you miss the line and you get it in there,” Claude said.
Director of Elections and Voter Services for the City of Minneapolis Katie Smith said the past two days have been busy.
“We’ve had really solid turnout. We’ve had about 42,000 people who have already voted in this election,” she said.
She anticipates next weekend will be even busier.
“Every year we kind of looking at how many people we’re planning for and how many people are coming through. We try to always expand our service hours as we get closer and closer to the election,” she said.
Smith said they’ve also started using pop-up voting locations to reach more people.
“In 2023, there was a legislative change that allows for us to have sites around the city that are open for different lengths of time as well as different dates form our main site. We’ve really taken the opportunity to host some one-day early vote pop-ups… in some unique and really great spaces throughout the city,” Smith said.
Sunday’s pop-up was at the Capri Theater. Paige Gayle voted here along with her sister.
“I like early voting because it’s convenient, it’s fast and it’s quick,” she said. “I work on actual election day, so for me it was important to get out beforehand.”
Smith said offering more voting opportunities for people in Minneapolis is crucial to their work.
“It’s so important to be able to offer all of these voting methods so that people can find something that works really well for them and make their voting plan,” Smith said.
Voters tell KARE 11 one of the perks to early voting is little to no wait. Voting early also gives them peace of mind and is one less thing to do on election day.
“It’s so much more convenient. This way I don’t have to worry about it. I’ll still be working on election day, so I would have had to go in before or after work. Now, I don’t have to worry about it. I know my vote will be counted,” Macy Bauers said.
Bauers said she votes in every election and hopes more people take advantage of early voting in the coming days.
The two adults who were killed were both male, according to the department, which is investigating the shooting.
MINNEAPOLIS — Three people were shot, two of them fatally in a Minneapolis encampment on Sunday afternoon, according to the Minneapolis Police Department.
The shooting occurred on the 4400 block of Snelling Avenue shortly after 3 p.m., said the MPD.
The two adults who were killed were both male, according to the department, which is investigating the shooting.
A woman was also taken to the hospital after the shooting and is in critical condition, said the MPD.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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