Allina to merge St. Paul, Hastings hospitals

Allina Health is planning to merge two east metro hospitals this summer in an effort to strengthen its care.

Allina says, in August, United Hospital in St. Paul and Regina Hospital in Hastings will align under one license but maintain separate campuses. They’ll then be known as United Hospital and United Hospital – Hastings Regina Campus.

“Through the challenges of COVID-19, we have learned the benefits and necessity of caring for our communities in new ways. It is our goal to make connections and improve access for patients entering our system at any of our locations,” Jill Ostrem, president of Allina Health United Hospital and Mercy Hospital, said in a statement. “Watching the success of connecting Mercy Hospital and what is now known as Mercy Hospital – Unity Campus in 2017 has been inspirational. Uniting the two campuses into one hospital has strengthened our ability to care for patients in the north metro, and we look forward to utilizing this same model of care to strengthen our connected care in the east metro.”

Allina says the campuses already have an established relationship, as many patients in Hastings already choose United Hospital and those needing a higher level of care than Regina Hospital can provide are regularly transferred to United Hospital. The hospital system says the merger will simplify transfers and billings for patients, staff and providers.

Regina Hospital will maintain its Catholic Stewardship Agreement after the merger, Allina noted.