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Health Partners and Essentia Announce Merger Plans

HealthPartners and Essentia Health have recently announced plans to combine their organizations. Together, the two Minnesota-based nonprofit health systems will expand access to high-quality care and coverage, strengthen specialty services, leverage technology to better serve patients and support clinicians to help make health care more affordable.

"This combination is about doing more for the people and communities who count on us," said HealthPartners president and CEO Andrea Walsh. "HealthPartners and Essentia Health share a belief that everyone deserves access to high-quality care and coverage, close to home and centered on their needs. Together, we can build on the strengths of both organizations to improve health, expand access and create a stronger future for the communities we serve.”

"Our organizations share similar missions and values, deep roots in this region and a focus on improving health and well-being," said Essentia Health CEO David Herman, MD. "As a combined nonprofit health system, we will be able to better innovate and grow our workforce. That strong foundation will make us even better partners for our patients, working together to help people live their healthiest lives, wherever they call home.”

Combining the strengths of each organization, the nonprofit health system will expand access to high-quality care across urban and rural communities. The new proposed organization will include 22 hospitals, more than 135 clinics and 6,000 clinicians, creating one of the region's largest nonprofit health systems and extending access to high-quality care across Minnesota and the upper Midwest.

The combined entity will strengthen local care while expanding specialty expertise. Patients will benefit from a greater depth of expertise and expanded access to specialists, advanced clinical programs, telehealth and coordinated care through strong local care teams and community relationships built over decades of partnership.

The new organization will be called HealthPartners. Andrea Walsh, will lead the new organization and David Herman will serve as president of combined clinical care group operations. No financial details of the merger were released. Pending regulatory approvals, the organizations anticipate the combination will be effective Jan. 1, 2027. Patients and members should not experience any changes or interruption to their care or coverage.

Mankato Clinic Victim of Potential Cyberattack

The Mankato Clinic recently announced that it is investigating unauthorized activity on its computer network after the Chaos ransomware group claimed to have stolen 610 gigabytes of data in mid-September. Stating that patient care remains unaffected and locations are open, the clinic has brought in legal counsel and cybersecurity experts to review the claims. The Chaos cybercriminal group listed the clinic on its dark web leak site, asserting it took data. Mankato Clinic has not verified the accuracy of the data theft claim and will notify individuals directly if personal data is confirmed to be compromised.

Chaos was first identified in 2025 and the ransomware criminal group has grown rapidly, launching double extortion attacks primarily in the U.S., with additional victims in the U.K., India and New Zealand. The group has been linked to former BlackSuit (Royal) operators based on overlapping tactics. It employs voice phishing for initial access, abuses remote management tools for persistence and uses a fast, selective encryption method to cripple networks. It runs a data leak site to pressure non-paying victims, demanding ransoms up to $300,000. It relies heavily on social engineering, combining spam email floods, voice phishing (vishing) posing as IT support and tricking targets into using legitimate remote access tools like Microsoft Quick Assist.

The Clinic stated, “We understand that news of a cybersecurity incident can cause real concern, especially when it involves an organization people trust with their care and personal information. We take that responsibility seriously and are working to understand exactly what happened, what information may have been accessed and who may have been affected. We are aware that a cybercriminal group has publicly claimed it obtained data from Mankato Clinic. We have not confirmed the accuracy of that claim, including the amount or specific information the group claims to have obtained, nor have we confirmed how many people may be affected. We believe it is important to distinguish confirmed facts from unverified claims while the investigation continues. We want to reassure our patients that this incident has not impacted patient care. Our commitment to our patients remains unchanged, and our clinics continue to operate as usual while we work through this investigation.”

Fairview Announces $100 Million New Central Laboratory Construction

Fairview recently announced that it was advancing plans for a new centralized laboratory facility designed to expand diagnostic capacity, support increasingly specialized testing and strengthen the laboratory infrastructure that clinicians and patients rely on throughout the care journey. A new 125,000-square-foot, $100 million laboratory is now under construction in Roseville, Minnesota, and it will unite lab services currently operating across multiple locations under one roof. The facility is expected to open in the first quarter of 2028.  

The new laboratory will improve care for patients through faster, more effective diagnostics while increasing Fairview's testing capacity by nearly 2 million tests annually to meet growing clinical needs and support future diagnostic capabilities.  

"Laboratory medicine touches nearly every part of health care, even though much of that work happens behind the scenes," said Jeoff Will, president and chief operating officer at Fairview. "This investment is about building the infrastructure our clinicians and communities will need as care becomes more specialized, more personalized and more connected."  

The new laboratory is being designed to create more integrated workflows and reduce unnecessary movement and handoffs of specimens between locations. It will also provide space that can accommodate evolving laboratory technologies and support collaboration among Fairview's medical laboratory scientists, technicians, pathologists, operational teams, educators, cytologists, pathologist assistants, histology and other laboratory professionals.  

"This gives us an opportunity to design laboratory operations around the way health care is evolving rather than around facilities and workflows built for another era," said Klint Kjeldahl, vice president of lab services at Fairview. "Bringing more of our expertise and technology together will help us support clinicians across Fairview while creating a stronger environment for the laboratory professionals who make that work possible."  

Fairview is working with Hempel Real Estate on the new project. "For more than a year, our team has worked closely with Fairview to design a facility that will help their laboratory professionals work efficiently and adapt as technology and patient needs evolve," said Brandon Champeau, executive vice president of Hempel Real Estate. "We're proud to play a role in creating a space that will be a critical part of Fairview's operations for decades to come." 

Mayo Launches Biomedical Database Project

The Mayo Clinic in Rochester and founding partner Thermo Fisher Scientific recently announced a new joint venture, Precure, LLC. Through one of the largest human multi-omics data-generation efforts to date, bringing together molecular data generated from one million biospecimens, the new company will create datasets integrating proteomic, genomic and longitudinal clinical data to help researchers identify early biological signals of disease and provide a foundation for new discoveries in disease biology, diagnostics and therapeutics. Advanced AI and large-scale data-analytics will be integral to identifying patterns within these complex datasets and translating them into actionable insights.

Many diseases begin developing biologically years before symptoms lead to a clinical diagnosis. By connecting molecular and clinical data over time, Precure, LLC has the potential to help researchers better understand these early changes, accelerate drug development and create new opportunities for earlier diagnosis, intervention and more personalized care across a wide range of diseases, such as cancer, cardiometabolic disease, neurological disorders and immune-mediated disease.

"At Mayo Clinic, we are committed to transforming patient care through innovation," says Gianrico Farrugia, MD, president and CEO, Mayo Clinic. "By harnessing the full potential of multi-omics data, Precure, LLC aims to help us better understand disease before symptoms appear, accelerating discoveries that can lead to earlier diagnoses, more targeted treatments and better outcomes for patients."

"Precure LLC has the potential to create a step change in how we generate and apply multi-omics data to improve human health," said Marc Casper, chairman and CEO, Thermo Fisher Scientific. "By combining Thermo Fisher's leadership in scientific technology with Mayo Clinic's leadership in clinical care, research and innovation, we can create new opportunities at unprecedented scale to detect disease earlier, accelerate drug development and enable more precise therapies."

Mayo Clinic's involvement in Precure, LLC is intended to advance its nonprofit mission. Any financial returns to Mayo Clinic will be reinvested in its mission of patient care.

St. Mary’s Hospital Receives $14.5 million Expansion Funding

Essentia Health recently announced a $14.5 million investment in its St. Mary’s Hospital-Superior, Wisconsin, facilities. Funding will expand access to specialty care, making it easier for patients across northwest Wisconsin to receive care closer to home. Expanded services will include clinician coverage, increased specialty outreach and surgical capacity as well as the addition of a Superior-based ambulance service. This builds on other recent expansions, including audiology, neurology, oncology, orthopedics and family medicine services. Additional near future plans will enhance pediatrics, cardiology, ophthalmology and gastroenterology services. The hospital will also increase surgical capacity by welcoming two new general surgeons aboard in October and adding advanced surgical technology, including robotic-assisted capabilities such as the da Vinci Surgical System.

“Our Wisconsin patients shouldn’t have to delay their care due to travel-related barriers,” said Kim Pearson, northwest Wisconsin administrator for Essentia Health. “By making more clinicians available, enhancing specialty outreach and strengthening emergency response, we can offer them more convenient options right here in Superior and across northwest Wisconsin.”

The expansion coincides with the 2027 reconstruction closure of the Blatnik Bridge. “We know that the Blatnik Bridge closure will impact many residents in Superior, but the project shouldn’t stand in the way of our community receiving timely, specialized and convenient care,” said Superior, Wisconsin Mayor Jim Paine. “I’m grateful for Essentia’s intentional planning and commitment to providing excellent care in Superior.” 

Each year, Essentia welcomes tens of thousands of patient visits from people living in Wisconsin, many of whom travel to its facilities in Duluth for services that may not be available locally. The upcoming bridge closure is expected to cause traffic disruptions, rerouting an estimated 33,000 vehicles daily. Essentia is working to bolster primary, specialty and surgical services, so Wisconsin patients can continue to receive timely care. The addition of the Superior-based ambulance service responds to this directly and will serve patients throughout northwest Wisconsin. The addition of two Essentia EMS trucks expands emergency response resources helping ensure the community has timely access to care.

Work Begins on Extensive North Dakota State Hospital Redesign

Construction of a new of North Dakota State Hospital (NDSH), just west of the existing state hospital, recently celebrated a beam signing, in which project workers, community members and future occupants write their names and well wishes on the final steel beam of a building before it is hoisted into place.

The 294,756-square-foot facility will replace the state’s main 1980s building and several other aging structures that have served the state since 1885. The new facility will create a more sustainable and operationally efficient state hospital through the unity of multiple departments and specializations. Anticipating late 2027 completion, the NDSH will support more than 300 staff, with 140 beds in a future-ready, trauma-informed care environment.

The new state hospital will accommodate specialized therapeutic spaces, advanced security measures and expanded capacity to meet evolving needs. The facility also designates space for state-of-the-art psychiatric inpatient care, forensic evaluation and restoration, psychiatric rehabilitation, a geriatric psychiatric unit, and a sex offender treatment and evaluation program.

Beyond world-class care, the new state hospital will foster university partnerships and expand workforce opportunities through on-site education. The facility will include an education wing, medication room simulation, mock-patient room simulation areas, an adaptable classroom, telehealth and remote support technology and respite rooms for stress management. The overall concept gives providers and emerging health care professionals access to ongoing education, self-care and recovery — all key to staff retention and recruitment.

The NDSH project, which broke ground in August of 2025, is led by the North Dakota Department of Health & Human Services and North Dakota Office of Management & Budget, in collaboration with JLG Architects as the architect of record, architecture+ as associate architect, Mortenson as the construction manager, and Tegra Group as owner's representative.

“As both a health care architect and a mental health advocate, seeing the steel rise above the North Dakota prairie is an extraordinary moment. The new NDSH is more than a replacement for an existing hospital or a consolidation of fragmented departments. The project is a testament to the state’s commitment to innovation and improved access to behavioral and mental health care,” said Todd Medd, AIA, principal and health care practice studio leader with JLG Architects.