North Memorial Health will close its downtown Minneapolis primary care clinic on July 31, relocating staff and patients to its St. Anthony location.
Patients who have appointments scheduled for after July 31 at the skyway-level downtown clinic across from Walgreens next to Gaviidae Common will be seen at the St. Anthony clinic instead. Appointments will remain at the same date and time, but at the new location, which is about a 20-minute drive away.
Staff at the downtown clinic, which has served patients for a decade, declined to comment on the closure Thursday.
A North Memorial Health spokesperson said in a statement that the decision “reflects shifting patient demand and reduced clinic usage in the Downtown Minneapolis area and helps us better align care access with our primary service areas.”
On Thursday afternoon, the changing dynamics were clear. While hundreds of people passed the clinic on the skyway during their lunch breaks, the lobby inside was quiet, nearly empty.
North Memorial operates a network of clinics across the Twin Cities metro and hospitals in Robbinsdale and Maple Grove. But the closure of the downtown location comes amid broader financial strain at the health system.
Financial pressures forced North Memorial Health to eliminate 103 jobs in 2024 and halt outpatient mental health services at its Robbinsdale hospital, its flagship facility.
Last year, officials said the Robbinsdale medical center was struggling with growing numbers of patients on government-sponsored health plans, which pay less for services than commercial health insurers.
