Minnesota Physician

Clinical training does not happen only in classrooms. It happens in exam rooms, hospital units, home care settings, behavioral health environments, community agencies, rural clinics and long-term care facilities. Learners develop by watching, practicing, receiving feedback, making decisions and gradually taking on more responsibility. Yet the people asked to support that learning are often already carrying heavy loads.

Trump Tightens Screws on Medicaid Exemptions CMS recently issued an interim final rule related to the Medicaid work requirements that are part of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.” The new policies, which become effective 7/31/26 put significant additional strain on people with mental illness.

Please tell us about the work Wold does in health care and how it has grown since the firm started in 1986. Health care has been a core part of Wold’s practice for years. What started as a regional architecture and engineering firm has grown into a national health care practice that partners with organizations of all sizes, from critical access hospitals and community health centers to large health systems and senior living providers.

When designing either a brand-new ED, or updating an older one, the first step is to interview the people who will be using the facility. This includes everyone from providers and staff to patients and members of the community. We ask a wide range of questions; from what they would like to see improved, to what they have seen work well in other facilities, to what was not working.

The scale and arrangement of spaces matter as much as the finishes themselves. Adolescents often respond positively to environments that offer choice and a sense of control, something they may feel they have lost during a behavioral health crisis. Rather than relying solely on large, open gathering spaces, successful facilities incorporate a variety of settings that support different emotional needs.

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.