Minnesota Physician

HealthPartners Announces New Como Park Clinic At its recent annual meeting, HealthPartners announced that it was moving forward with a major new construction project in St. Anthony Park. The new facility is scheduled to open in the fall of 2027. It will replace the existing Como Clinic, the first HearthPartners clinic that opened in 1957, when the company was called Group Health. The new facility will be well over 50% larger than the existing clinic and cost around $80 million.

Here are some examples. Judy is a single mom with two young children who earns $50,000 a year. Routine health needs add $2,000 to her health card and then her youngest is hospitalized resulting in a $50,000 charge. Over the course of the year, Judy has withheld $400 per month for health care federal taxes and made her required $100 per month payments.

This regulatory loophole has directly allowed for the rapid rise of an emerging multi-billion dollar unregulated industry where essential core elements of basic public safety are frequently and unapologetically sidelined for massive financial profit.

Over the years, The Emily Program has been a leader of the broader conversation around eating disorders, including spearheading advocacy efforts that contributed to the passage of the Anna Westin Act within the 21st Century Cures Act. Today, the organization is known for its warmth, passion and multidisciplinary approach — integrating medical, nutritional and psychological care — and for advancing a treatment philosophy centered on dignity, inclusivity and long-term recovery.

When continuity deteriorates for clinicians, continuity often deteriorates for patients. This creates a reinforcing cycle of operational instability and contributes to clinician dissatisfaction and turnover. Turnover disrupts patient continuity and increases onboarding burden for remaining staff. Fragmented continuity contributes to workflow inefficiency, increased utilization, inconsistent chronic disease management and escalating operational strain.

Please tell us about the kinds of work you do to promote public health. Our work spans a wide range of public health priorities — all grounded in strong partnerships with our communities to advance equitable health outcomes and eliminate disparities. We do this through a combination of education, prevention, regulation and policy change—whether we’re strengthening emergency preparedness, addressing chronic disease or reducing risks through home hazard mitigation, such as lead and radon prevention.

Blue Cross Posts $353 Million 2025 Loss In its annual report, released April 1, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (Blue Cross) claimed a combined $353 million in operating losses on $10.4 billion in fully insured premium revenue for 2025. This represents an operating margin loss of approximately 3%. Blue Cross paid $9.8 billion for members’ medical and pharmacy services in 2025, or nearly $27 million in claims on a daily basis.

Lupus flares range considerably in severity, from mild episodes of fatigue, joint pain, and rash to life-threatening complications including nephritis, cardiovascular disease and neurological involvement. Critically, the period between symptom onset and diagnosis is not clinically silent. Ongoing immune dysregulation during this interval can cause cumulative, and sometimes irreversible, organ damage that timely treatment could have prevented or substantially reduced.

Health care initiatives that involve diversity, equity and inclusion have recently been identified as part of an anti-American agenda and have experienced significant negative repercussions. Please share some examples of this. Brooke: At the Minnesota Department of Health, we believe everyone should have what they need to be healthy. Both science and common sense tell us that “one size does not fit all,” that the path to optimal health looks different for different people.

Provider burnout is a problem across all specialties. How does Grow Pediatrics address this issue? At Grow, we try to support a healthy work–life balance for our providers and staff in several ways. Most team members work three to four days per week, which helps create a better balance between work and personal life. Because we are privately owned, we’re also able to keep provider schedules manageable.