The University of Minnesota board of regents canceled a meeting that was originally set to address ongoing negotiations among the university, Minneapolis-based Fairview Health Services and M Physicians, the physician group within the university’s health system, The Minnesota Star Tribune reported Nov. 21.
The fallout from a $1 billion partnership forged between Fairview and M Physicians has drawn the attention of Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison, who will mediate the negotiations, moving forward.
The initial deal, announced Nov. 12, has since come under fire from the University of Minnesota and has elicited serious questions concerning the leadership of the university’s president, according to reports from The Minnesota Star Tribune.
Fairview and M Physicians — the clinical group practice name for University of Minnesota Physicians — finalized plans for a 10-year collaboration set to take effect Jan. 1, 2027. The agreement would replace the current M Health Fairview joint clinical enterprise, which includes a $1 billion capital commitment to support the state’s academic healthcare infrastructure and support hospital operations.
As a part of the deal, M Physicians will continue clinical and operational practice, and leadership at the university’s facilities in collaboration with Fairview, while the two organizations plan to enhance physician training and research while expanding patient access.
However, university leadership has called the deal a “hostile takeover” of its medical school. In a statement shared with Becker’s, they claimed that university leadership was not consulted during negotiations, arguing that the deal erodes public trust and places a single health system’s interests above the broader needs of patients in the state.
University President Rebecca Cunningham, MD, PhD, has come under scrutiny for her handling of the deal, The Minnesota Star Tribune reported Nov. 21.
Here are 12 updates on the deal’s ongoing fallout:
1. Dr. Cunningham, who has been president of the university for less than a year, faces growing concerns from some physicians, donors and one of the state’s largest hospital systems over her management of the university’s medical system. The university’s regents continue to support Dr. Cunningham’s position, but the division reveals potentially larger “fractures” inside her administration, the Star Tribune reported.
2. Fairview CEO James Hereford sent a letter Nov. 20 to Dr. Cunningham, which was obtained by the Star Tribune. In it, he defended the system’s partnership with the university’s physician group, and accused leadership of undermining the stability of the health system.
3. He called the agreement a “good deal” for Fairview and the university physicians, noting that nearly 200 physicians have left UM since 2024, “far outpacing historical norms.”
4. Dr. Cunningham did not respond to the Star Tribune’s request for comment. However, in a Nov. 20 letter to faculty members obtained by the publication, she said that the university has a “practical alternative model” but didn’t include details. She also recognized growing unease about how the conflict surrounding the deal has been handled, saying that she “advocated heavily to not have this deal be shared publicly.”
5. At a Nov. 20 Faculty Senate committee meeting, the general feeling among the attendees was that the failure to come to an agreement is partly an indictment of Dr. Cunningham’s leadership, according to the Star Tribune. Jerry Cohen, vice chair of the university and Faculty Senate, said that faculty members of the medical school are “disappointed” and their greatest fear is no deal at all.
6. Other faculty members told the publication that Dr. Cunningham was “propelled into a difficult situation” and has handled things sufficiently. State Rep. Marion Rarick, a Republican who serves on the Minnesota House’s Higher Education Finance and Policy committee, said Dr. Cunningham is the first president of the university in 10 years who has tried to build a relationship with the legislature.
“As far as her job performance, I’m still trying to figure out where the truth lies,” Ms. Rarick told the Star Tribune.
7. Prior to her tenure, the board of regents was vocal in their brief that Dr. Cunningham could shape the future of the university’s medical programs, which now hang in the balance of the deal with Fairview. The university’s administration has dismissed numerous leaders of the physician group after they inked the 10-year partnership with Fairview. People with knowledge of the dismissals told the Star Tribune that they were retaliatory and demonstrative of larger rifts between the physicians who provide care throughout the health system and teach at the university and the central administration.
8. A statement from the university said that the dismissals were made under a board of regents directive, according to the Star Tribune.
9. Mr. Walz and Mr. Ellison are monitoring the negotiations, and other state officials have urged both the university and the physician group to keep patient care as the center focus and come to an agreement. In a Nov. 19 letter sent to Board of Regents Chair Douglas Huebsch, and copied to Dr. Cunningham and other officials, Minnesota Masonic Charities CEO John Schwietz expressed “deep concern” over the tone and conduct of the ongoing negotiations between Fairview and the university.
10. Nearly 70 members of the physician group gathered outside the location for a special meeting between all involved parties Nov. 21. The physicians voiced concerns that plans were being moved forward without input from those most directly involved in patient care and medical student training.
11. Shortly afterwards, Mr. Ellison announced that the University, Fairview and the physician group would be returning to the negotiation table. In a Nov. 21 news release, the University said it had reached an agreement to resume healthcare negotiations between the physician group and Fairview.
“I also know we are up to the task at hand. We are grateful to Attorney General Ellison for bringing all parties back together with a mediator,” Dr. Cunningham said in the release. “We stand ready to creatively explore all options to define a mutually agreeable solution — for all of Minnesota and for each of you.”
12. Fairview told the Star Tribune that stabilizing the faculty was an urgent priority for them, adding that “it would be irresponsible to allow open-ended negotiations, to revisit terms that have already been settled, or to return to structures that have already failed. The foundational agreement already reached between Fairview and UMP offers a clear path forward.”
