HealthPartners and Essentia Health Agree to Merge
October 1, 2026
On September 29, HealthPartners and Essentia Health announced that their boards of directors have approved an affiliation agreement to combine their organizations.
February 12, 2026
On February 9, it was reported that the Trump administration plans to pull back $600 million in public health funding to Minnesota, California, Colorado, and Illinois.
The funds, administered through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are for grants to state and local public health departments and some nongovernmental organizations.
“It is concerning that HHS is cutting public health funding to local communities that cover core functions in the middle of a measles outbreak and other health threats,” said Deb Houry, MD, who served as the CDC’s chief medical officer before she resigned in August, The New York Times reported. “This coupled with large staffing cuts to federal public health leaves communities less prepared.”
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said the grants, many of which support the LGBTQ community, do not reflect the priorities of the current administration.
October 1, 2026
On September 29, HealthPartners and Essentia Health announced that their boards of directors have approved an affiliation agreement to combine their organizations.
October 1, 2026
On October 1, two significant provisions of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA, 2025) affecting non-citizen adults on Medical Assistance (MA; Minnesota Medicaid) take effect.
October 1, 2026
Five physicians, two physicians-in-training, a state senator, and two firearm safety advocacy organizations were all honored with MMA awards, as part of the association’s Empowering Physicians Event on September 25.