The core of Rochester's economy is dependent on the Mayo Clinic, which is headquartered in Rochester and has several facilities in the city. Other medical providers also contribute significantly to the economy of the city.

The focus of this category is on health, medical, and emergency service providers in Rochester, Minnesota. These may include websites representing local health and wellness facilities, doctor's offices, clinics, medical laboratories, hospitals, and medical centers, as well as medical practitioners of all sorts, such as medical doctors, surgeons, and other specialists, including the dental, eye care, and mental health professionals.

The alternative health professions, such as chiropractors and acupuncturists, are also appropriate for this category, as are veterinary care professionals.

Also included in this category are emergency service providers, like the police, fire departments, and emergency medical services.

Rochester's high-profile role in medical history began when Dr. William Worrall Mayo was sent to Rochester to conduct medical evaluations of young men enlisting in Union volunteer regiments that were being formed during the American Civil War.

Before coming to Rochester, Mayo supplemented his income through several jobs in addition to being a practicing physician. He was a newspaper publisher, a farmer, and a steamboat operator.

Upon arriving in Rochester, he opened a private practice and was kept busy enough to no longer need any side jobs. Before long, his sons, William and Charles, joined his practice.

In August of 1883, a series of three tornadoes (an F5 and two F3s) hit southeastern Minnesota, affecting parts of Dodge, Olmsted, and Winona counties, killing forty people and injuring more than two hundred.

Rural Minnesota had only three hospitals outside of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Rochester did not have the medical facilities needed to meet the challenge.

As a result of this experience, the Sisters of Saint Francis approached Mayo about building a hospital in Rochester. The result was Saint Mary's Hospital, and the Mayos agreed to provide medical care for the new facility. The Saint Mary's School of Nursing followed.

Today, the hospital is known as the Saint Mary's Campus of the Mayo Clinic, and is one of the largest hospitals in the United States.

In subsequent years, the Mayo Clinic established several additional medical facilities and schools, many of them in Rochester.

Another significant medical provider in Rochester is the Rochester Federal Medical Center, which is actually a federal prison for inmates needed specialized or long-term medical or mental health treatment, and is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Colonial Hospital opened in 1915, and grew over the years, also adding a nursing school. In 1919, Worrall Hospital opened only a few blocks away, both owned by the Kahler Corporation. By 1950, the Kahler Corporation had turned its interests to the hotel business, selling both hospitals in 1954. They were incorporated into Rochester Methodist Hospital and were connected by a subway system. In 1963, the Worrall Hospital became part of the Mayo Clinic campus, but its buildings were razed in 1967 and 1970 respectively. Most of Colonial Hospital was demolished in 1985, but the north wing remains as the Methodist Campus of the Mayo Clinic.

Headquartered in Rochester, the county seat, Olmsted Medical Center has been in operation since 1949, and is currently a Level IV trauma center with a 24-hour emergency department, two clinics in Rochester Shopko stores, two Acute Care clinics, a Skyway Clinic, and eleven branch clinics.

Rochester also have several veterinary facilities, including Broadway Veterinary Hospital, Heritage Pet Hospital, Med City Animal Hospital, Quarry Hill Park Animal Hospital, VCA Cascade Animal Medical Center, Leidall Veterinary Services, Meadow View Veterinary Clinic, Northern Valley Animal Clinic, Plainview Veterinary Clinic, and Vetmobile Housecall Veterinary Service.

In the mid-1800s, several fires destroyed large portions of Rochester's business district. Area newspapers began demanding a fire department. The Rochester Fire Department was established in 1866, and its first station was built in 1870. Today, the RFD responds to more than ten thousand calls a year, which it handles from five fire stations.

Organized in the early 1900s, the Rochester Police Department provides law enforcement services, and began providing Basic Life Support ambulance service to the city in the 1930s, supplementing the Mayo Clinic ambulance.

In 1998, the RFD began responding to medical calls within the city, and currently responds to about five thousand medical emergencies each year.

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