When the Great Recession hit Mayo Clinic along with everyone else, top Mayo administrators say they had two choices: wait it out or do something.
"We chose (to do something)," the clinic says in a YouTube video shown to thousands of Mayo employees nationwide during the heat of the recession recovery. "We actually wondered," the video says, "will Mayo Clinic survive?"
In 2008, Mayo Clinic broke even, "barely" (in the words of the video). But the clinic did, indeed survive. How?
Mayo administrators say that the clinic survived because of "The Mayo Effect."
"Simply put, it's the connections. It's 56,000 dedicated employees, our most precious resource, working as one team, caring for each other, patients, families, communities," the clinic proclaims.
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In short, "The Mayo Effect" happens as a result of the clinic's employees working as a single team nationwide, the video says. In Rochester alone, more than 32,000 Mayo employees have survived the Great Recession.
And Mayo announced last week that it will build a $188 million high-tech cancer treatment facility in Rochester intended to provide better treatment at lower cost with less damage to tissues surrounding the treatment target.
In addition to serving people with cancer, who will no doubt be grateful the new proton beam pencil scanning cancer treatment facility exists, Mayo's decision will also affect the local economy and Mayo's patient base.
Mayo's pencil scanning capability will have the potential to become a draw for patients dealing with cancer. If Mayo's new cancer treatment center in Northfield doesn't meet their needs, Mayo in Rochester will be just an hour's drive away.
