CentraCare, the St. Cloud-based health care system, is planning to purchase the Monticello hospital it has operated for the last decade.

CentraCare-Monticello Hospital is owned by the Monticello-Big Lake Hospital District, a political subdivision that will be dissolved once CentraCare completes the purchase for $2 million, an amount established at the time of the affiliation agreement between the two entities in 2013.

CentraCare will continue to operate the hospital in the same manner as prior to the real estate transfer, according to a joint statement issued by CentraCare and the hospital district.

"This plan has been in the works since the beginning of the relationship," the statement reads. "CentraCare remains committed to serving our local patients, the broader community and greater Minnesota."

The Monticello hospital opened in 1965. CentraCare also has hospitals in Benson, Long Prairie, Melrose, St. Cloud, Sauk Centre, Paynesville, Redwood Falls and Willmar.