CentraCare and University of Minnesota outline Saint Cloud regional campus to boost rural physician training

CentraCare leaders told the University of Minnesota Board of Regents’ Academic Health Committee that a new Saint Cloud regional medical campus and aligned residency expansion are intended to increase the number of physicians who stay and practice in greater Minnesota.

Ken Holman, CentraCare president and chief executive officer, and Mike Blair, CentraCare senior vice president and chief financial officer, outlined the partnership and the system’s financial and operational commitments. "We have spent $19,000,000 to open up the facility," Blair said, and CentraCare has invested in adjacent housing and pledged to cover the campus’s net operating deficit. Blair told Regents the organization has committed roughly $21,000,000 for housing and projects a $10,000,000 operating commitment over the next 10 years.

Why it matters: University and CentraCare officials said training students in Outstate Minnesota increases the chance they will remain there to practice, addressing shortages in family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, obstetrics and general surgery. Blair said the program expects 24 incoming students at the Saint Cloud campus and that CentraCare is working to align graduate medical education so all graduates have residency slots; he described a goal of scaling residency capacity from the current 18 to about 72 slots to match ongoing class sizes.

Details presented: Blair reported a 100% acceptance rate among the first 24 offers for the regional campus and described a broader financing picture: CentraCare has raised $30,000,000 of a $50,000,000 philanthropic campaign, invested about $19,000,000 in the facility itself and $21,000,000 in housing. He said the partnership also secured state support — $5,000,000 for the facility and $10,000,000 for start‑up costs. The planned campus sits adjacent to a CentraCare ambulatory site in Saint Cloud; Blair described the site as part of a larger complex and noted a roughly 600,000‑square‑foot facility with a reported $300,000,000 investment underway for the broader health campus.

Operational and clinical commitments: Holman described CentraCare’s service footprint — he cited 43 counties, about 750,000 patients and roughly 12,000 team members — and said the goal is to pair undergraduate education with residency training and clinical rotations so students gain metro and rural experience. Blair and other speakers described arrangements for specialty rotations (for example, pediatric students doing time at a children’s hospital in the Twin Cities and finishing a third year at CentraCare) and noted participation by partners including the VA and the Minnesota Department of Human Services.

University perspective and caveats: University President Cunningham praised the partnership but cautioned that the Saint Cloud campus is a campus of the University of Minnesota Medical School and not a standalone medical school. "The St. Cloud campus is not a medical school, it's a campus of our medical school," President Cunningham said, stressing that accreditation, faculty research and strong clinical training in the Twin Cities remain essential to the initiative’s success.

Reactions from Regents and students: Regents praised the effort for its potential local economic impact and workforce benefits. Regent Huebsch said rural investment often grows local business and schools, while Regent Verhalen called the campus’s statewide reach "an amazing opportunity." Student representatives who had completed Rural Medical Student Pipeline (RMSP) rotations described the training as aligned with student priorities and urged continued support for international medical graduates in training pathways.

Next steps and timeline: Presenters said a ribbon cutting and community celebration is planned for late July (they gave July 27 as a potential date) and that details would be shared with Regents. No formal vote or policy action was taken at the meeting; the presentation was informational and Regents discussed implications for accreditation, funding and scaling residency capacity.

The committee adjourned after the discussion.