health system introduced a program called Mayo Clinic Advanced Care at Home, which allows some surgery patients to spend more of their recovery at home. The program includes setting up remote monitoring equipment that allows medical staff to monitor the patient's condition. Nurses and paramedics who are available in case of emergency also visit the patients to administer medicine. The program was created in part to free up bed space amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but the organization said it expected to continue offering at-home recovery beyond the pandemic. In January 2022, 700 members of the organization's nursing staff signed a petition demanding that it address staff shortages and increase compensation for nurses. In its response, the organization noted that like other hospitals and clinics, it was experiencing challenges maintaining staffing levels due to the pandemic. The organization requested assistance from the Wisconsin National Guard in late 2021. In early 2022, soldiers were deployed to fulfill the work of nursing and patient care assistants through March 2022. Facilities Mayo Clinic Health System consists of hospitals, clinics, and other health care facilities in local communities in Southern Minnesota, Western Wisconsin, and Northeastern Iowa. The organization is divided into four operational regions: Northwest Wisconsin, Southwest Wisconsin, Southeast Minnesota, and Southwest Minnesota. Medical providers and patients have access to specialized care and expertise available at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. As of December 2021, Mayo Clinic Health System facilities served 600,000 patients across its operating regions. After combining its Albert Lea and Austin hospitals into a single entity with two campuses in 2013, Mayo Clinic Health System announced in 2017 that it would consolidate inpatient services to the Austin campus. Initially, some residents in the area expressed concern that they would lose access to some services. The organization said that the integration would help it sustain services, and that both facilities would retain most services such as outpatient and emergency care. In June 2021, the health system finished construction on new medical and surgical inpatient units, as well as a new birth center and intensive care unit at the Austin facility. At the Albert Lea location, work included renovations to its cancer treatment center and inpatient psychiatric care, and a hyperbaric chamber. In December 2019, the organization announced it would close a hospital, several clinics and an emergency room in Springfield, Minnesota, and clinics in Lamberton, Minnesota, due to a lack of patients and staff,