Minnesota
What's a fair price for University of Minnesota Medical Center?
The proposed deal for the University of Minnesota to buy back its teaching hospital is entering a key phase, with the U and Fairview having hired consultants and exchanged data to determine a reasonable price tag for the sprawling medical center in Minneapolis.
Within the next six weeks, the U and Fairview hope to get close to a consensus on price. If they can, the two sides will move to the next phase of the transaction, which includes a re-write of their complex affiliation agreement, said Myron Frans, senior advisor on the deal to the U’s interim president.
The U and Fairview signed a letter of intent in February to transfer ownership of University of Minnesota Medical Center (UMMC), which the health system acquired in a financial bailout during the 1990s.
Fairview maintains that the sale price must cover the health system’s debt on the facilities, the document notes. The letter also expressed the university’s position that it should not pay more than fair value for the medical center, irrespective of outstanding debt.
“We have to get to some major threshold issues, to make sure we’re on the right track,” Frans said in an interview. “It’s going to be whatever it’s going to be … but our intent would be to do it in less than six weeks.”
He added: “At this point, obviously, we are on track. We don’t have any warning signs.”
Minneapolis-based Fairview Health Services said in a statement: “Everything is on track with the timeline outlined in the [letter of intent].”
The letter of intent came 15 months after Fairview proposed an ill-fated merger with South Dakota-based Sanford Health. U officials opposed the marriage as it would have transferred control of UMMC to an out-of-state entity.
About 70% of physicians practicing in Minnesota trained at the university, where the U hospital is a primary teaching and training venue. Fairview employs about 34,000 people and runs one of the state’s largest health systems.
On Thursday, documents presented to a subcommittee of the U’s board of regents included a timeline with the impending milestone for whether to proceed.
Fairview and the U have each hired consulting firms to help place a value on the hospital, Keith Ghezzi, managing director of Alvarez & Marshal, said during the subcommittee meeting.
“The next major decision point will be after a preliminary valuation has been performed by [each side’s consultant] and we have an opportunity to see how those valuations may align,” Ghezzi said.
As it now stands, the U and Fairview would have a first closing of the transaction by the end of this year, with the U paying Fairview 51% of the negotiated price at that time. Funds for the health system’s remaining stake would be placed in escrow. A second closing, including transfer of the remaining funds, would happen by the end of 2027.
Ghezzi’s firm is one of three consultants the university has hired to work on the proposed acquisition.
“We’re moving forward and we’re thrilled with the expertise the university administration has brought to bear on this,” Janie Mayeron, the board of regents chair, said Thursday after the subcommittee meeting.
Consultants thus have received about half of the data they need from Fairview in order to develop the valuation, Ghezzi said. That’s not a worrisomely small amount, Frans said, noting that it takes time for Fairview to extract financial data on University of Minnesota Medical Center form the health system’s broader financials.
Frans, who earlier this year retired after serving as the U’s senior vice president for finance and operations, is a Fairview board member.
The university wants to own the teaching hospital to control governance and operations, Frans said, including infrastructure investments that could make it easier for patients to receive unique specialty services at UMMC.
“We have a capacity problem — we’re more than full almost every day,” Frans said. “We want to be able to make sure that we provide the access to the people of Minnesota, to that level of care.”
University of Minnesota Medical Center includes a large hospital for adult patients on the East Bank campus as well as a pediatric hospital and inpatient mental health facility near the U’s West Bank campus. Fairview currently owns all three of these facilities.
UMMC also includes a large outpatient surgery and specialty care center on the East Bank campus that’s jointly operated by Fairview and the U in a building that’s owned by the university. The sale would give the U ownership of all four operations.
Minnesota
Giordano’s deep dish pizza bringing second location to Minnesota
Giordano’s, the famous pizzeria known for their deep-dish style Chicago pizza, is opening a second location in Minnesota at the Mall of America.
The pizza chain also has a location in Richfield, and previously had a location some years ago in Minneapolis in Uptown.
The grand opening of the Mall of America location will be on Thursday, July 16. The restaurant there will be unique, with the restaurant’s first self-service kiosk ordering. It will also have a grab-and-go area and a normal seated restaurant experience.
The Chicago deep-dish chain has been around since 1974, with the vast majority of locations in the Chicagoland area. They have 60 restaurants in nine states and are currently expanding nationwide.
Minnesota
Man accused of attacking woman in Midwest Bank parking lot at gunpoint
DETROIT LAKES, Minn. — A Minnesota man now being held by ICE in Texas is accused of pulling a gun on a woman in a bank parking lot in Detroit Lakes on June 12.
Jose Gregorio Boller Pena, 39, of rural St. Augusta, has been charged in Becker County District Court with felony second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and felony threats of violence.
Nathan Bowe / Detroit Lakes Tribune
According to court records, shortly after noon on Friday, June 12, Boller Pena is accused of surprising a woman in her car on her lunch break in the back of the Midwest Bank parking lot.
The woman told a Detroit Lakes police officer that she had been sitting and scrolling through her phone. She heard rustling coming from the woods behind her vehicle and then saw someone standing at her car door. She added that the masked man pulled her car door open further.
She began screaming, and the man covered her mouth with his left hand. She looked down and saw that the man was holding a handgun pointed at her with his right hand, near his waist level, according to court records.
The man took her cellphone from her hand and threw it in the backseat. The man was speaking, but the woman could not understand what he was saying. He was gesturing for her to move over to the front passenger seat. She continued to scream, and a bank employee came out on lunch break and heard her, according to court records.
The suspect then fled southwest into the woods that border the Pelican River. The bank employee immediately went back inside and called 911, according to the criminal complaint.
When a police officer arrived on scene and met with the woman, she was visibly upset and crying. The woman said the attacker had been wearing all black clothes, a black “ski-mask thing,” and black or gray work gloves with rubber grips. She said the mask was over the man’s head and that he was also wearing sunglasses, that the gun was held in the man’s right hand and was pointed at her, and that the man had something similar to a duffel bag with him.
According to the criminal complaint, dispatch notified officers that the manager of Pelican River Apartments near the bank had reported a suspicious vehicle in their parking lot shortly before the time of the assault.
Video surveillance confirmed that a gray 2011 Mazda 3 sedan was in the northwest corner of the apartment lot, according to the complaint. In the video, a shadowy figure can be seen walking from the Mazda into the woods at about 11:20 a.m., according to the complaint. The Mazda is then seen leaving the parking lot at approximately 12:16 p.m.
The Mazda was found in Detroit Lakes through the Flock license plate reading camera system, and the Mazda plate number was noted on the day of the attack. The car drove into Detroit Lakes on Highway 10 East at approximately 10:13 a.m. and left town the same way at 12:20 p.m., according to court records.
Police next discovered that the Mazda had been at the Detroit Lakes Walmart on May 15, May 31 and June 5. Surveillance footage of the car and driver was compared to a photograph of the registered owner of the Mazda. It was later discovered that the car’s owner had been deported from the United States in May.
A Detroit Lakes police investigator then reviewed the owner’s known associates and noted that one worked on a large local dairy farm.
The owner of the dairy farm, identified in court documents as “C.S.,” told the investigator that one of his employees, a “Jose Boller” (later identified as Boller Pena) had recently quit work on June 10, two days before the attack.
The dairy farm owner told police that Boller Pena was from Venezuela and had a sick child back home, and that he said he was going back home to Venezuela to be with his family. He had said he would stay and work until June 14, but had left before that.
The dairy farm owner provided a police investigator with photos, a phone number and other details, according to the criminal complaint. Investigators discovered that same phone had been used to contact a local licensed gun broker, who happens to be married to a Detroit Lakes police officer.
The firearms dealer had received text messages on June 5 from Boller Pena’s phone number indicating that the individual wished to purchase a firearm, according to the criminal complaint. The broker advised the individual of the legal requirements for purchasing a firearm, and the individual responded specifically with “Ok, I don’t think I can process it, I’m from Mexico.” The individual then ceased texting.
Also on June 5, that police officer had come home, noticed an unfamiliar car parked in front of the residence, and taken photos of the vehicle and license plate, which turned out to be Boller Pena’s Mazda 3, according to court records.
On June 18, the dairy farm owner provided police with a copy of Boller Pena’s last paycheck from June 12. Employees at the dairy farm are normally paid on Fridays, and he said Boller Pena had essentially one and a half paychecks that were due to him.
The paycheck was cashed at Midwest Bank on June 12 at 10:22 a.m., and bank surveillance footage from that day showed a man believed to be Boller Pena entering the parking lot and proceeding to the southern portion of the parking lot, according to the complaint. He then entered the bank, approached a teller, and cashed his check from the dairy farm. His clothing was consistent with the dark clothing described by the woman during the time of the assault. He then left the bank and drove off.
Additional information from the Flock system showed the Mazda traveling through Wichita, Kansas, at approximately 6:41 a.m. on June 13, the morning after the assault. The vehicle was next spotted on the Flock system in Waxahachie, Texas, at 7:18 p.m. on June 13, according to court records.
On June 19, a Detroit Lakes police investigator was granted a GPS search warrant to track the locations of Boller Pena’s cellphone number. That same evening, the phone displayed locations in the Houston, Texas, area.
Detroit Lakes police officers conducted a surveillance operation with Homeland Security Investigation officials and confirmed Boller Pena’s location in Houston.
On June 24, Boller Pena was detained by Homeland Security Investigation officials and Houston police. Officers discovered a backpack in his vehicle containing dark clothing, including a dark top with a full face mask. Officers also found miscellaneous tools, a knife, duct tape, a condom, and a pair of gloves — black with gray rubber palms — in the backpack, consistent with what was previously described by the woman.
In an interview with police, Boller Pena acknowledged that he was previously in Minnesota and working at a farm, and that he drove to Houston “a few days ago” to find “better work.” He acknowledged he was driving the Mazda 3 while in Minnesota and drove the vehicle to Houston. He said he got rid of the car a day or two after arriving in Houston. He also admitted that the cellphone number being investigated by Detroit Lakes police is his number. He denied that the backpack found in the vehicle was his, but acknowledged that the black top with the facemask was his, and stated he had it in Minnesota because it was “cold out.”
Based on information provided by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, Boller Pena is subject to a final order for removal and is in the custody of the Department of Homeland Security in Texas.
Minnesota
Minnesota Lynx bested by Connecticut Sun 90-89
The Minnesota Lynx fell to the Connecticut Sun 90-89 on Monday night. Brittney Griner scored a season-high 29 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Kennedy Burke added 16 points off the bench, including two 3-pointers in the final three minutes for the Sun.
Burke made a 3-pointer with 2:53 remaining in the fourth quarter to give the Sun a five-point lead, and Griner added a shot in the lane with 1:25 left to make it 84-79.
Burke sank a wide open 3-pointer from the top of the key with 44.5 seconds left for an 87-84 lead. Then, former Lynx forward Diamond Miller made a key block for Connecticut and Griner sealed it on a layup with 18.2 seconds left for another five-point advantage.
Leila Lacan had 13 points and Olivia Nelson-Ododa added 10 points and eight rebounds for Connecticut (5-16), which won its second road game of the season.
Kayla McBride scored 28 points for Minnesota (15-6) and Courtney Williams had 23 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Natasha Howard scored 18.
Minnesota was without Napheesa Collier (left ankle) and Olivia Miles (right calf). Dorka Juhasz made her season debut and finished with three points in 25 minutes.
Griner scored 13 points in the first half to help Connecticut build a 48-44 lead.
Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve’s second attempt to become the WNBA’s career wins leader came up just short. The next chance will come Wednesday when Minnesota plays at Connecticut. Reeve is tied with Mike Thibault at 379 regular-season victories.
Up next
The teams play again on Wednesday in Connecticut.
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