Mayo Clinic leaders, local legislators and Gov. Walz took the opportunity Monday to boast about the transformation the hospital’s Bold. Forward. Unbound. project will bring both to healthcare and Rochester itself.

According to 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS’ sister station, KAAL, at the site of Mayo Clinic’s Ozmun building, Gov. Walz was greeted by several of the Med City’s representatives at the capitol, as well as leaders of Mayo Clinic’s expansion project.

After a brief tour of the construction site, Walz and company spoke to a gathered crowd of media and construction workers.

“(We) probably haven’t seen a transformation in healthcare in any of our lifetimes or maybe ever that’s happening in a compressed time period of what’s happening and it’s just uh… I’m incredibly grateful,” said Walz.

Just behind them, the Ozmun building stood hollow, waiting to be torn down.

Up the road, the old Lourdes High School building was doing just that down.

Downtown Rochester is transforming, mirroring Mayo Clinic’s promise for what the $5 billion project will do for healthcare.

“To allow these incredible physicians and care support that surround a patient to improve the quality of life for a patient and improve their outcomes,” said Walz. “That’s what this is all about.”

The seeds of more than a year of planning, finally beginning to bear some fruit.

“I truly believe that we deliver the best care in the world here,” said Sen. Liz Boldon (DFL – Rochester). “Seeing sort of the next phases of that and the innovation that is to come, continuing to be that leader is very exciting and I look forward to seeing that continue.”

It’s a common theme of the history of Mayo Clinic.

“We’ve seen Mayo change a lot over the decades and this is another iteration of the amazing investment,” said DFL-er Rep. Kim Hicks.

Echoed in the thousands of stories of those that visit.

“Mayo Clinic has saved my life, it saved my life twice. And my husband’s,” said Sen. Carla Nelson, (R – Rochester). “I can’t wait to see what Bold. Forward. Unbound. is going to continue… how it’s going to continue to transform excellent healthcare.”

Something that makes Rochester very unique.

“We’ve got something here that’s very unique and it’s very hard to replicate elsewhere,” said Walz.

Mayo Clinic’s demolition of both old Lourdes High School and the Ozmun site is right on schedule.

According to the timeline provided by Mayo earlier this year, groundbreaking on the new parking ramps for downtown and the West Transit Village is next.