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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.
Fire officials say the flames started in a garage but then jumped to an apartment building and hotel.
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minneapolis Fire Department (MFD) evacuated residents after a four-alarm fire sparked on the city’s south side late Wednesday night.
The fire chief told KARE 11 that the fire started in a garage unit on the 5600 block of Lyndale Ave. S and quickly jumped to a motel and apartment complex nearby. All three will be declared a total loss.
The Red Cross was called to help a reported 50 displaced tenants find a place to stay. Two firefighters and one resident were medically evaluated for injuries.
Fire crews used an aerial ladder water tower to dump large amounts of water on the apartment building in an effort to knock down the flames.
KARE 11 will update this story as more information is available.
Jerry McAfee, founder of 21 Days of Peace, said many of these kids are committing crimes for recreation and don’t understand the consequences of their actions.
MINNEAPOLIS — Community leaders say they were disheartened to see the latest string of youth crime, but they’re not shocked.
“The youth that age and younger have been participating in criminal activity long before you guys just found out,” said KG Wilson, a retired peace activist.
Wilson said the perception of kids committing crimes is hard for people to imagine.
“Nobody wanted to believe that these children this young would be doing this type of criminal activity in the community,” he said. “Instead of them listening to the few of us that we’re trying to tell them about this before it gets worse, it got worse. And then you got the taps on the hands because a lot of these kids have been doing this for years.”
Jerry McAfee has seen the same things. He’s the founder of 21 Days of Peace and works with dozens of kids to keep them on the right path.
“This behavior is not new. What is new is we are yet to be alarmed to the point that the necessary synergy is created to get ahead of that stuff and to try and stop it,” McAfee said.
He believes it’s time for a new approach.
“What we were doing three or four years ago and have been doing the last few years isn’t working. It’s getting worse. So, if it’s getting worse just stop, admit it’s not working, and let’s put something together,” he said.
McAfee said many of these kids are committing crimes for recreation and don’t understand the consequences of their actions.
“That’s the message they got to get. This is not games. This is real-life,” he said. “I don’t think there is many repercussions, and what kids deem now as fun is dangerous.”
Wilson agrees the problem is getting worse each year, and kids and teenagers need to be held accountable.
“There’s going to have to be some consequences to their actions and they’re going to have know, these children are going have to know if you do this, this is what’s going to happen to you,” Wilson said. “If that doesn’t happen, they’re going to say and think in their mind, we can do anything we want and we’re just going to get a pat on the hand.”
He said it’s not all on the parents. He said some of them have tried to get their child help, but nothing seems to work.
“A lot of times these kids have gotten so out of control that some of the parents fear them. The parents fear them,” he said.
Wilson believes people need to become neighbors again and look out for kids on their block.
“We got to start getting back to community meetings,” he said. “It’s about tough love. It’s going to have to be about tough love. You’re going to have to get tough. It’s either you’re going to let them go, let the streets have them, or you’re going to take them back yourself.”
McAfee said it might be time to air public service announcements explaining the consequences of committing crimes.
The boy had been last seen on the 2500 block of 14th Ave S.
MINNEAPOLIS — Police in Minneapolis say a 4-year-old who was reported missing has been found safe.
According to the Minneapolis Police Department, Jacob Gonzalez Orbe had been last seen around 3:40 p.m. Wednesday on the 2500 block of 14th Ave S.
In an update Monday evening, police said he was found and is safe.
This story has been updated from a previous version.
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