The expanded agreement between the University of Minnesota, University of Minnesota Physicians and Fairview Health Services aims to create a nationally-renowned academic health system.

On September 28, 2018, the University of Minnesota, University of Minnesota Physicians and Fairview Health Services announced approval of an agreement to create a nationally-renowned academic health system.
The agreement expands the organizations’ current University of Minnesota Health (M Health) partnership to bring together the University of Minnesota Medical Center and Fairview’s other 11 hospitals, 56 primary care clinics, and other services into a shared care delivery system led by a single leadership structure that includes academic physicians. The shared care delivery system will be united under a single brand, M Health Fairview, which will launch in 2019.
The reimagined partnership will advance the organizations' shared mission to heal, discover new treatments and cures, and educate the next generation of healthcare professionals, leverage academic medicine throughout the care delivery system,  embrace new models of care that are focused on patients, and include a significant increase in support to the Medical School.
Highlights of the agreement include:

  •  A structure that promotes care designed around patient needs that is led by academic physicians. Care will be organized around health conditions, rather than geographic boundaries.
  • Strong collaboration among the diverse health providers that are part of all three organizations, including independent physicians.
  • Tighter operational alignment to simplify the care experience for patients.
  • A focus on leading research, education and patient care aimed at discovering new approaches to improving health — from primary care through complex and hospital care.
  • Increased financial support for the University of Minnesota Medical School, which is the state’s only public medical school. Annual support will be dedicated to recruiting faculty, fostering and expanding research in search of the next medical breakthroughs and developing the future healthcare workforce.
  • University of Minnesota Physicians will remain an independent organization that, in support of the University’s land-grant mission, will work with other partners throughout the state to advance care. Fairview will also remain an independent organization and maintain business outside the aligned clinical enterprise.

The agreement takes effect on Jan. 1, 2019, and will continue through Dec. 31, 2026, with an option for a 10-year extension in 2023.