St. Paul's United Pain Center closure leaves patients without specialized care

United Pain Center closes, patients scramble to find care

Patients have been seeking new care plans to meet their pain management needs after St. Paul's United Pain Center closed on July 25.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Patients are still reeling from the closure of the United Pain Center in St. Paul.

The outpatient clinic treated people with chronic pain before it closed on July 25, with Allina Health saying the decision was made due to staffing issues. 

United Pain Center closes

What they're saying:

A United States Air Force veteran and former United Pain Center patient, Shari Burns, shared the challenges she faces in finding a new provider to treat her chronic pain. 

"I tried a couple of different places and they’re not taking new patients. I called another couple of places, and they said 'well we don’t do the pain management, we’re getting out of that,'" Burns said. "And so many of these providers said, 'Oh, but you’re not on pain meds anymore that should be wonderful, you must feel so much better.' No! I went the other way. My life has damn near ended."

Former Medical Director of United Pain Center Dr. Hess spoke about the concerns he has for his former patients after the clinic closed.

United Pain Center closure surprises patients

Allina Health's United Pain Center in St. Paul permanently closed on July 25 due to staffing issues, leaving patients reeling from the decision and scrambling to find coverage. FOX 9?s Mike Manzoni has the latest.

"Pain patients need to be listened to, it’s about time," Dr. Hess said. "We certainly understand the substance-use disorder people, we respect their disease also, but people need to respect those of us with chronic pain."

Cammie Lavalle suffers from chronic pain and works as a volunteer healthcare advocate. She said the closing of the pain center could leave patients with few options and drive them to dangerous levels of desperation. 

"I know some [patients] that are out of medication now, or will be out within a couple days," Lavalle said. "And clinics won't take them because they are so complex. And so they're gonna be going through withdrawals, some of these individuals are elderly, disabled, and they're gonna end up in the hospital, or worse. We're concerned of suicides, we're concerned of people going, if they get too desperate, they may go to the streets."

What you can do:

Cammie Lavalle shared a resource document for patients impacted by the closure of United Pain Center:

Allina Health statement

The other side:

Allina Health released the following statement on United Pain Center's closing: 

Due to significant staffing challenges, the Allina Health United Pain Center in St. Paul permanently closed on July 25, 2025. This decision was made with our patients’ care and safety in mind. 

We have been actively supporting our United Pain Center patients during this transition and working with impacted employees to help them transition.  

Allina Health continues to provide a wide variety of high-quality pain management services at four other pain clinic locations, plus alternative pain therapy programs. This closure does not impact inpatient pain services at United Hospital.