ST. PAUL (AP) — The Mayo Clinic is pressing Minnesota state lawmakers to direct more than $500 million toward an ambitious development project tied to the renowned medical center in Rochester.

The proposal Mayo officials outlined publicly on Wednesday includes projections that it will lead to as many as 45,000 new jobs over the next 20 years and leverage more than $5 billion in private investment. They're calling it the Destination Medical Center plan.

Mayo already is Minnesota's largest private employer.

The plan focuses on upgrading Mayo's research and care facilities and giving its mid-sized host city amenities that make it more attractive to physicians being recruited and to patients who come from worldwide for treatment. Officials say the public money would go toward infrastructure.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

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