Information about the Mayo Clinic

I posted this under General Discussion, but it may be appropriate for here, too.

This is an experiment of sorts.  I went there in early October – I wish I had some of this before I did.  If this works, I hope others will do something like this for clinics they’ve been to.

I put together a table of information with help from Julie T.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t translate well into this forum’s format.  Not sure if it is even possible.  It has addresses, contact names and phone numbers for the Clinic.  Plus a wealth of information on lodging options.  If anyone knows a way to capture this or to attach a Word file to a forum, please let me know.   I stayed at LaQuinta.  It has a free shuttle to the Clinic that runs once an hour.  Decent rooms and price.  Not sure how close it is to the Rochester airport since I flew into Minneapolis-St. Paul and rented a car.

If anyone has more info they want to share about the Mayo Clinic, feel free to add your own post.

Duke

Medical Facility: 
Mayo Clinic
200 First Street SW
Rochester, MN 55905

Contact Info:
Angella Young
Young.Angela9@mayo.edu
507-266-9288

Concierge Info:
concierge@mayo.edu
507-538-8438

Travel Service:
507-266-6276

Lodging:
Many major chains.  Search the Internet.  Some offer discounts for Clinic patients.  Some offer free shuttle to/from Rochester Airport.  Some offer free shuttle to/from Mayo Clinic.
The American Cancer Society has partnered nationally with Extended Stay of America hotels. Through this partnership patients will have reduced lodging options. There are some restrictions/rules that you need to know about—you must call 1-888-227-6333 to have them book the room for you—you can’t call the hotel directly.
~The rooms are only available Sunday-Thursday.
~Room rates vary depending on patients income—either the room will be free or it will cost you ~$12. The representative will verify your income when you call to make check on room availability.
~You will also have to plan ahead for this program. They need at least two Fridays (not two weeks) advance lead time to process your request.

Maria’s Deluxe Apartments
1139 2nd Street SW
Rocheter, MN 55902
507-282-1018
0.86 miles from Methodist; Furnished apartments with full size stove & Refrig. Rooms have microwave, sm refrig., no internet access. On city bus lines.

Mennonite Guest House
1407 First Street SW
Rochester, MN 55902
507-280-6252
1.11 miles from Methodist; 4 bedrooms have own bathroom, 2 upstairs bedrooms  share a bathroom, 2 downstairs bedrooms share bathroom; no TV, radio, no smoking; children must be supervised. Kitchen privileges. One handicap accessible room. Volunteer Shuttle available

Nazarene Well House
http://www.nazwellhouse.com/
47 13 ½ Street NW
Rochester, MN 55901
507-282-6792
Or     nwh.roch@gmail.com
1.25 miles from Methodist;
12 bedrooms – queen size bed in each; laundry facilities; kitchen; high speed internet; cable in commons area; off street parking; free local and long distance calling; light continental breakfast;  ½ block from City Bus lines
on-site caretakers
14 blocks north of Mayo Clinic Campus

Viola Suites
http://www.violasuites.com
2020 Viola Road NE
Rochester, MN 55906
507-289-2930
(Dennis Loeser)
Or 1-888-289-2930
2.7 miles from Methodist; Apartment style, Stove, Refrigerator, Microwave, DW. Minimum 7 day stay. On city bus line

Serenity House Network
http://www.serenityhouserochestermn.com/
Homes/Apts.  in Rochester include: Serenity, Vix, Sunny Place Cottage, Baptist Hospitality House, Red River, Gauthier, Schuster
Check website for details on each site
507-273-0470
Family style living, fully furnished sleeping rooms, homes & apartments. .Cable/satellite TV,  internet, linens, towels provided, free laundry, free parking, within 10 minutes of Mayo Clinic; near bus line. Transplant friendly.

Ironwood Springs Christian Ranch
http://www.ironwoodsprings.com/
7291 County Road 6 SW
Stewartville, MN 55976
507-533-6707
16.15 miles from Methodist; Ranch style/resort facility. Microwave, refrigerator in each room. No TV. Internet available

Kahler Grand Hotel
2 2nd Ave SW
Rochester, MN  55902
Hotel: 
507-280-1655
Reservations: 
800-533-1655
Fax: 
507-285-2775

Note:  The hotel has some rooms which are renovated and some are not.  I would ask before booking a room which type you are getting.

Note….Our favorite room to book is the Executive King because it is one of the newly renovated rooms.  There is a Mayo Clinic patient discount making the room $179 per night (note that parking with the Mayo patient rate is free).   But, when we were there in August, my appt was on Friday, so we stayed Thurs and Fri nights and got the room for the weekend rate of $119 (plus tax) per day.  Parking is an additional $16.00 but still much less than the patient rate with free parking during the week.  Apparently, when you book a Friday along with the Thursday, they consider the Thursday part of the weekend?

Disclaimer:
Neither the individuals who compiled this list nor the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation have an interest in any of the medical facilities or the hotels/motels listed. 

Other: 
Consider applying for financial assistance through Cancercare. They may help with transportation cost related to treatment.  http://www.cancercare.org/financial

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Updated 12/1/14 with info from JulieT:

A transport/shuttle service is available between Minneapolis airport, or the Minneapolis Mall of American and the Winona Amtrack and Rochester, MN.

Pickups and drop offs include most hotels in Rochester. Advance reservations required.
Schedules depart Rochester currently as early as 3:45 a.m. from Rochester to the Minneapolis airport to 7:15 pm. from Rochester to the airport. Shuttles leave the airport as early as 6:45 a.m. to as late as 10:45 p.m. except on Saturdays and Sundays when the earliest and latest times are eliminated. Prices are currently $29.00 one way per person and $55.00 round trip. Senior citizen fares are available. Children 14 and under are $19.00 one way.

Check the website for full schedule and directions.
GoRochesterDirect.com Or call 507-280-9270 local or 800-280-9270 toll free

Trips to Mall of America in Minneapolis and back to Rochester are $39.00 round trip/same day … leaving Rochester as early as 8:15 a.m. and leaving the Mall as late as 9:10 p.m. (except Sundays when it departs the last time at 7:55 p.m. If you have a day between appointments, this may be a good way to spend some of your time to “get away” a little.

The Winona Amtrack van shuttle for Chicago Train has one departure and arrival in both locations … for $25.99 one-way and $50.00 round trip.

I’m sure the above schedule is subject to change. When I was at Mayo in February, a man told me about GoRochester Direct (our hotel, the Kahler, has an office for Go Rochester Direct right in their lobby. He said it was much cheaper to fly into Minneapolis … and the fee for the shuttle was very reasonable and comfortable. He uses it every year when he goes to Rochester for checkups. You get picked up at a specific location and dropped off at your hotel and back again. The shuttles run between the airport in Minneapolis and Rochester hotels about every half hour to 45 minutes to hour and a half. I counted 20 departures from the airport to Rochester and the same from Rochester to the airport. It’s a pretty amazing service.

The flights into Rochester were way more expensive than into Minneapolis. It’s about an hour and a half ride in the shuttle from the airport to Rochester. Not bad.

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Duke