State briefs: Ely hospital to stop planned deliveries of babies

Expectant mothers in Ely will soon have to plan to travel 50 miles or more to give birth. Ely-Bloomenson Community Hospital's chief executive, John Fossum, announced last week that the hospital would stop planned deliveries after losing its resident surgeon years ago.

"It's rooted in the movement of surgical-related services to the big city," said Fossum, who is concerned about the trend.

The phasing out of planned deliveries by July 1 means that expectant mothers will now plan to give birth in hospitals as far away as Virginia or beyond. The clinic in Ely will still provide pre- and postnatal care; the hospital will continue to take emergency birthing cases.

"If it's an emergency, we're going to deliver," Fossum said. "If you show up, and the baby's coming … it's the baby's decision."

pam louwagie @pamlouwagie

An arts center in Bemidji has purchased a former Masonic temple and plans to demolish it to create green space alongside what will become its new home. The Watermark Art Center is using an anonymous $250,000 gift to buy and raze the three-story building, built in 1923 and left empty since local Freemasons moved into a former tae kwon do studio.

"We've been watching it for a while," said Lori Forshee-Donnay, Watermark's executive director. The nonprofit is now housed in a Carnegie library that's inaccessible to people using walkers and wheelchairs. It plans to move to the site of a former grocery store nearby.

JENNA ROSS

@ByJenna

Mankato's veterans clinic is being renamed in honor of one of the community's most celebrated veterans.

Lyle Pearson flew 50 combat missions in a B-17 bomber over Europe before being shot down in Italy in December 1944 and surviving the final months of World War II in a prisoner-of-war camp. Now, one year after his death, his hometown will celebrate his life and legacy by placing his name above the door of the Community-Based Outpatient Clinic for veterans in Mankato.

"Lyle Pearson was the true definition of an American hero," wrote U.S. Rep. Tim Walz, who sponsored legislation to rename the clinic that passed the House and Senate with bipartisan support. The bill now heads to the president's desk to be signed into law. "Through his lifelong dedication to service, both in and out of uniform, Lyle left a profound and everlasting impact on southern Minnesota and the country as a whole."