NH+C is purchasing Allina Health’s Northfield Clinic on Jefferson Road as part of a partnership agreement with Allina Health. Patients will have access to expanded exceptional primary care through NH+C and continue to receive specialty care from our colleagues at Allina Health.
This agreement includes the clinic building and staff, and the family medicine, pediatrics, sports medicine, and behavioral health practices.
Benefits to patients and the community
Q: What’s the benefit of this change?
It’s exciting for NH+C to unite primary care in Northfield, and keep local the services that can be done in our community. This strengthens NH+C’s commitment to serve our full community with high-quality services for the entire lifespan.
There are strong benefits to Northfield and to the patients we care for:
- We'll be able to provide exceptional primary care to more individuals who live in and around Northfield.
- This partnership will benefit individuals who need access to specialty care: Our strong relationship with Allina ensures services flow back and forth so they can receive excellent specialty care when needed, and then come back to Northfield for primary care.
- This will serve all of our primary care patients – those who have been receiving care at the Jefferson Road clinic through Allina, and patients of NH+C’s flagship Northfield Clinic.
NH+C and Allina will be able to refocus our energies on each organization’s strengths, rather than duplicating care. This is a new model in rural healthcare that keeps care local; improves access to all levels of care for people who live in Northfield or surrounding communities; and makes NH+C sustainable for decades to come.
Impact on Allina patients and providers
Q: When will the clinic change over?
NH+C and Allina are on track to complete the transition of the clinic in Fall 2026.
Q: What will the clinic be called?
We’re excited to have settled on the name NH+C Jefferson Road Clinic. We considered input from the clinics’ own providers, NH+C’s clinic teams, and community groups to choose the name.
Q: How will this transition affect patients?
The patients who are currently receiving care at the Allina Clinic on Jefferson Road can expect to have the same great care team, the same great providers in the same building. We're committed to making this a positive transition for patients, with excellent continuity of care.
Current patients will notice a change in electronic medical records as the Jefferson Road Clinic shifts from Allina’s Epic EMR to NH+C’s Meditech Expanse. See more details below.
There are no changes for current NH+C clinic patients.
Q: How will this transition affect Allina providers and staff?
NH+C is excited to welcome the providers and staff who choose to join to NH+C. These providers and staff are exceptional clinicians, and trusted members of our community. They've been well-respected partners for NH+C for many decades. We’re committed to making this a smooth transition for them to continue providing excellent care for their patients.
This transition includes family medicine, pediatrics, sports medicine, and behavioral health.
Q: What specialties will be staying?
That’s still in discussion as plans take shape. NH+C is actively working with Allina to identify how best to continue providing great specialty care at this location. Our shared desire is to maintain and enhance access. We expect to have more to share before the clinic transition in the Fall.
Q: How will the shift in Electronic Medical Records affect me as a patient, and my provider?
NH+C will help patients, providers and staff transition from Allina’s Epic system to NH+C’s Meditech Expanse system. We're working hard to make this a positive experience: We know it's a change for all these individuals, so we're investing time and energy in training and preparation.
Patients will always be able to see their existing records in Epic; these files simply will not be updated with new information after the clinic transition. Patients can continue to use tools like MyChart until the transition.
As providers join NH+C from Allina, they'll also maintain access to Allina's Epic and continue to see those records as “read-only” files; they won’t have the option to add or make changes to these files.
With two parallel electronic medical records the back and forth will get a little bit more complicated, but NH+C is committed to making it as seamless as possible. We've been working closely with the Allina providers and staff to make sure that this is a positive experience for them as well.
Q: Will my insurance be covered?
We’ve looked at the insurance products that many people hold in the Northfield area. The vast majority of them are equal from Allina to NH+C. There are a few that we're reviewing in more detail to make sure that those patients who have a specific insurance product can continue to get great access with NH+C, and we'll continue to improve that as we go into the next year.
It's always a good idea for individuals to call their insurance company and clarify their own coverage directly with their insurance carrier.
Impact on NH+C’s partnerships, including Mayo Clinic
Q: Why partner in this way with Allina?
NH+C and Allina have a long history of working together to serve the healthcare needs of the broader Northfield community.
As a community hospital, we can balance primary services and specialty care. And when patients need a higher level of care, such as cardiac procedures, our partnerships with specialty care centers such as Allina’s Abbott Northwestern Hospital enable us to transition care as needed, then have the patient return to the community for continued care.
As part of this agreement, NH+C and Allina will formalize our long-standing partnerships in clinical service lines care such as cardiology and neuroscience.
Q: How does this affect NH+C’s work with Mayo Clinic and other healthcare systems?
We’ll continue to work with Mayo Clinic and our many partners.
As an independent organization, we have longtime partnerships with many excellent healthcare systems including Mayo, Hennepin Healthcare, and others to ensure patients get the best specialty care when they need it. These partnerships with specialty care centers enable us to transition care as needed, then have the patient return to the community for continued care.
Our independence and our longstanding relationships with many providers means we can ensure patients get the best care possible for their needs, at every stage of their care.
Q: Why is this happening now?
Pressures on rural healthcare have intensified. As a result, NH+C’s leadership team and Allina’s leadership team decided to look intentionally at different ways to provide care in a way that best fulfills the mission of providing outstanding care to patients in our region.
The two organizations’ strategic vision and timing have aligned as we commit to serving the best interest of patients and the community with access to high-quality care at all levels.
This is a real opportunity to show a new model in rural healthcare. As an independent organization partnering with Allina, we can define rural healthcare better, and make it a big success for both organizations – and for the community.
Impact on NH+C: independence, financial stability
This addition of the Jefferson Road Clinic will help NH+C thrive financially, to continue providing excellent care as an independent organization well into the future.
Q: Will Northfield Hospital + Clinics remain independent?
We will remain independent. We are firmly committed to being an independent healthcare system so we can be responsive to the community.
We will remain independent even as we strengthen our partnerships and relationships with others.
We have excellent local leadership through NH+C’s board and through City Council, who are very invested in the future of NH+C and are strongly supportive of this transaction.
Q: How can Northfield Hospital + Clinics afford to make this purchase during difficult times in the healthcare industry?
NH+C has over 100 years of successfully caring for our communities. Over these hundred years, we've been able to establish strong financials, so we have a strong balance in reserve even though we have weathered operating losses in the last few years. We're using some of these reserves to invest in this excellent long-term opportunity. Adding the Jefferson Road Clinic will strengthen our operating margins; expand our primary care base; and make full use of our resources such as operating rooms, imaging department, and lab services to provide care for our broader region. This expansion of clinic services expands our base, keeps referrals and related services local – all of which reinforce our financial stability now and into the future.