FOSSTON, Minn. The city of Fosston has filed a motion in Polk County District Court to compel Essentia Health to arbitrate, a press release said, following a dispute between the two regarding the city’s hospital. The city is alleging Essentia Health has spread misleading information in the community regarding an ongoing dispute between the two parties. The release sent by Michelle Landsverk of Landsverk and Associates, a Fosston-based consulting firm said parties were unsuccessful in resolving the dispute through more informal means. Arbitration refers to settling a dispute through an arbiter, a third party with the authority to decide the dispute. For more than a year, the city of Fosston and Essentia have been in conversation regarding the hospital, Essentia Health-Fosston, following the relocation of labor and delivery services to Essentia Health St. Mary’s-Detroit Lakes. The change stopped what the city believes is a core service at the hospital, and thus a breach of the 2009 affiliation agreement between the city, Essentia and First Care Medical Services, the non-profit that ran the hospital before Essentia. The city issued a notice of termination to Essentia Health more than a year ago for Essentia to return the city’s membership interest in First Care Medical Services, the release said, and “exercised its right under Minnesota state law to end the affiliation agreement that brought Essentia to Fosston.” Last year, a three-judge arbitration panel ruled 2-1 in favor of Essentia in that it did not breach the affiliation agreement. A press release from Essentia said the ruling meant it is permitted to continue operating the hospital, clinic, assisted-living and long-term care facilities in Fosston, as well as clinics in Bagley and Oklee. The release said the city is not rehashing the panel’s ruling or refusing to accept the decision, but that it is terminating the agreement with Essentia in its entirety on different grounds than what was previously arbitrated. The city alleges that Essentia has been attempting to foster goodwill in the community while presenting misleading information about the nature of the dispute in recent months. The press release said Essentia does not own First Care Medical Services and no money was exchanged in 2009, the time the affiliation agreement was created.
https://www.grandforksherald.com/news/minnesota/city-of-fosston-files-motion-in-polk-county-district-court-compelling-essentia-health-to-arbitrate