Mayo Medical Laboratories announced today it will cease operation at its Massachusetts facility while consolidating staff at its main headquarters in Rochester.
The decision ends a nearly 20-year run on the East Coast and coincides with the looming end of a lease. The property owner sought another long-term agreement in Andover, Mass., but Mayo Clinic declined that option and will begin transitioning tests to Rochester over a phased process that will begin immediately and be completed by the end of 2016, according to a news release.
A Mayo spokeswoman said the New England facility has 105 employees, who were informed of the decision this morning. The affected employees, who Mayo described as "our most precious resource," will be given the option to relocate to another Mayo facility or take a severance package commensurate with their experience.
"This was not an easy decision — in fact, it was an incredibly difficult decision," said William Morice, chairman of Mayo Clinic's Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology in Rochester, and president of Mayo Medical Laboratories. "Our primary concern is helping the affected staff at this location in every way possible."
Morice continued: "We value the contributions of the Mayo Medical Laboratories New England staff and will work hard to provide the best opportunities possible as we move forward. Mayo leadership and our human resources specialists will be meeting one-on-one over the next few days with the impacted laboratory staff to outline how these decisions affect them and how we can best provide opportunities for them."
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Dr. Morice described Mayo's Massachusetts site as "a highly successful operation in terms of quality, safety, productivity and cost efficiency" — with one significant drawback: it's not located near any Mayo Clinic medical practice. The move to Rochester will solve that issue.
Mayo Medical Laboratories is a lab operating within Mayo Clinic's Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, which has more than 3,200 employees. The branch provides "advanced laboratory testing and pathology services to support 5,000 health-care organizations around the world," according to Mayo Clinic spokeswoman Gina Chiri-Osmond.
The Rochester operation is based out of the Hilton Building on the downtown campus and at the Superior Drive Support Center in Northwest Rochester, along with a lab in Jacksonville, Fla. The Rochester operations will be expanded to accommodate the new staffers.
The affected employees from New England will have a few weeks to decide on their professional futures, according to Chiri-Osmond. Mayo Clinic is hopeful that all will decide to continue with the company after relocating.
"It is our hope that the vast majority of staff at our New England facility will be interested in open positions at other Mayo locations," Chiri-Osmond said. "There are positions available for all employees who hope to continue their careers at Mayo. Mayo Clinic is committed to doing everything possible to retain current employees during this time of change and to providing support throughout this process."
