February 15, 2024
A bill to allow childcare centers and family childcare programs to require children older than two months to be fully vaccinated, unless there is a medical exemption to being vaccinated, was heard by the Senate Health and Human Services Committee on February 15. SF610 (Boldon, DFL – Rochester) was approved for possible inclusion in a future omnibus bill.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the proportion of U.S. kindergartners receiving state-required vaccines for illnesses such as polio, measles, mumps, rubella, and diphtheria declined from 95% to approximately 93% nationwide. Minnesota’s kindergartners have immunization rates below the national average. According to a report from the Minnesota Department of Health from the 2022-2023 school year, only 89% of kindergarten students entering public school were fully vaccinated.
The MMA shared a letter with the committee, supporting the bill as a step in the right direction. In the letter, the MMA noted it would prefer that the legislature remove the personal belief exemption in Minnesota law, entirely.
Minnesota law currently allows parents to express a conscientious objection to vaccines for any reason. This loophole makes Minnesota’s childhood immunization laws among the weakest in the country and is a primary cause for the below-average vaccination rates in our state.
The Senate companion bill, HF367, has yet to be heard by the House Children and Families Finance and Policy Committee.
August 14, 2025
It was a tumultuous week for healthcare in Minnesota as St. Cloud-based CentraCare announced that it was laying off 535 of its employees, and the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners voted to dissolve the Hennepin Healthcare System board, which controls Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) in downtown Minneapolis.
August 14, 2025
Along with the insights of best-selling author Elisabeth Rosenthal, MD, and University of Minnesota President Rebecca Cunningham, MD, Empowering Physicians: A Night of Learning & Connection event-goers will have an array of vendors with which to interact.
August 14, 2025
Across Minnesota, physicians and care teams—both formally and informally—are leading efforts to improve clinician well-being. Some hold official wellness titles, while many are simply the “go-to” people in their clinic, department, or system when colleagues need support.