United Hospital (MN), surgeon group cut ties

United Hospital has opted not to re-new employment contracts with a high-profile group of heart surgeons in St. Paul — upsetting one of the hospital's key benefactors in the process.

Neither the hospital nor the physicians at Cardiovascular Surgeons of St. Paul affected by the decision would discuss specifics of the three-year contract, which expired in June. But such agreements typically provide doctors with compensation — either through a salary or productivity-based pay — and relieve them of certain administrative burdens involved with operating a practice and recruiting patients.

United opted not to renew the contracts with the surgeons, who've operated at the hospital for about 30 years, for "business reasons," said David Kanihan, a spokesman for the Minneapolis-based Allina health system.