Health Care
House Democrats want state authority over health care consolidations in Minnesota
Minnesota House Democrats on Monday warned a merger between Fairview Health Services and Sanford Health could increase health care costs or lead to hospital and clinic closures. In November, Fairview and Sanford announced their intention to merge into one health care system run by Sanford’s current CEO Bill Gassen. The target date to complete the […]
After Republicans delay with lengthy debate, Senate passes bill codifying abortion rights
Update: The bill passed Saturday morning and heads to the desk of Gov. Tim Walz, who is expected to sign it. Minnesota Senate Republicans launched an informal filibuster to prevent abortion rights from being codified into state law Friday, offering dozens of amendments and speeches that lasted well into Saturday morning. Democratic-Farmer-Labor lawmakers pressed on […]
Seven facts about abortion in Minnesota
This week the state Senate plans to take up a bill that will codify stronger protections for abortion and other reproductive health care rights into state law. The bill has already passed the House, and is considered a top legislative priority for the new DFL trifecta in St. Paul. Abortion rights are currently protected here […]
DFL Legislature moving quickly on a range of issues three weeks into session
The DFL-controlled House passed a bill Thursday codifying the right to an abortion into law. It now moves to the Senate. That’s just one policy area where the DFL is moving fast. Some other big bills that moved forward this week: Bill requiring the state’s utilities to generate 100% of electricity from carbon-free sources by […]
Rural seniors benefit from pandemic-driven remote fitness boom
MALMO, Minn. — Eight women, all 73 or older, paced the fellowship hall at Malmo Evangelical Free Church to a rendition of Daniel O’Donnell’s “Rivers of Babylon” as they warmed up for an hourlong fitness class. The women, who live near or on the eastern shore of Mille Lacs Lake, had a variety of reasons […]
Unionized home care workers win 31% raise in tentative agreement with Minnesota officials
Roughly 20,000 of Minnesota’s home care workers will see their biggest pay raise in history over the next two years, under a contract reached between the administration of Gov. Tim Walz and SEIU Healthcare Minnesota, the union representing the workers. The home care workers help elderly and disabled people with daily tasks such as bathing […]
Right to abortion bill clears first hurdle in Minnesota House
A bill that explicitly establishes the right to an abortion in Minnesota law cleared its first hurdle on Thursday over Republican objections. The House Health Finance and Policy Committee passed the Protect Reproductive Options (PRO) Act along a party-line vote after hearing emotional testimony from pro- and anti-abortion advocates. DFL legislative leaders have made passing […]
A cancerous year
I was extremely excited to start working at the Reformer this summer. A small independent newsroom, punching above its weight, dedicated to telling stories others wouldn’t? Sign me up! Then, I got cancer. It’s fine, all things considered. It’s a type of lymphoma that’s highly curable, and I’m in the middle of chemotherapy that will […]
Sanford-Fairview merger would be bad for Minnesota health care
Fairview Health Services and Sanford Health announced their plans to merge last month, and we can expect their paid talkers to provide the corporate ooze of benevolence. They’ll tell us the merger is a chance to offer higher consolidation of care, improve quality of care and coordination of care, and save health care dollars. The […]
Mary Turner just led the largest private-sector nurses strike in U.S. history. What’s next?
Mary Turner bounded into the conference room at North Memorial hospital, where nurses were voting to authorize a second strike in three months. “Sorry, I was just on the phone with the governor,” she said. Gov. Tim Walz, in a meeting kept off his public schedule, had just spoken with leaders from seven of the […]
There must be something in the water
People who grew up in the communities where 3M dumped chemical waste for decades wonder why so many of them got cancer as kids, and why justice is elusive.
Nurses reach deals with Twin Cities and Duluth-area hospitals, call off strike
Union nurses called off strikes at seven of the state’s largest health systems in the Twin Cities and Duluth area after reaching tentative agreements that include the largest pay raises for nurses in two decades. St. Luke’s in Duluth announced a tentative agreement on Monday night, which was followed on Tuesday morning by announcements from […]