Howie: The Gift From the North
If the nation is wise enough to listen north, it will find the answers waiting. Because up here, health care isn’t just a profession. It’s a promise. And we keep our promises close to home.
HowieHanson.com Section
Minnesota's Rural Health Reckoning
Howie: Policy from the North
If Washington has the humility to learn from Dr. Herman and Essentia's story, it might just rediscover what leadership in health care looks like — steady, patient, and powered by people who measure progress one healed life at a time.
Howie: Un-burdening the healers
Nationally, analysts note that Duluth’s homegrown health system has achieved what many academic centers still struggle with: integrating digital health records, preventive outreach, and local trust into a cohesive care network.
Howie: The doctor will text you now
Health systems from across the country — and even from Canada — have begun studying Essentia Health's model of “rural integration,” which marries technology with value-based care contracts that reward prevention over procedures.
Howie: When hospitals become economic engines
Dr. David Herman sees hospitals as ecosystems — living, breathing networks that keep small towns from disappearing. Duluth’s skyline now offers proof in steel and glass. The new St. Mary’s Medical Center doesn’t just treat patients. It sends a message: downtown Duluth still matters.
Howie: The Next Great Minnesota Export: Rural Health Innovation
Minnesota has exported iron ore, timber, and hockey players. Now it’s preparing to export something even more valuable: a pathway to rural health equity.
Howie: The Color of Rural Health
In the heart of northern Minnesota, Essentia Health and Tribal leader Samuel Moose are proving that equity isn’t a promise — it’s a practice. By turning sovereignty into shared governance and empathy into measurable outcomes, they’ve created the model Washington now tries to copy.
Howie: Food, Heat and Hope: The Social Side of Medicine
“Connecting to other social services is a critical part of population-health improvement,” Dr. David Herman, President and CEO of Essentia Health, told the Senate. “Access to healthy food, transportation, and housing must be seen as part of health care.”
Howie: From Fee for Service to Fee for Results
For once, a health-care revolution isn’t coming from Silicon Valley or Washington, but from the north shore of Lake Superior. And if it succeeds, the light in the pharmacy window — the one Herman says tells you whether a town is still alive — might stay on a little longer.
Howie: The 340B Lifeline Under Attack
Dr. David Herman, President & CEO of Essentia Health in Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota, has become the calm in the middle of this storm — a measured advocate who can walk senators through the compliance forms, the pharmacy audits, the real-world consequences.
Howie: Inside Rural Minnesota’s 96-Hour Trap
The 96-hour rule may have once been a guardrail. Now it’s a barrier. If Congress wants to help rural America without another task force or photo op, it can start with one simple act: stop the clock.
Howie: The Broadband Health Gap
Telehealth, Dr. David Herman insists, is not a shortcut but a lifeline. The proof is already visible: fewer hospitalizations, lower costs, and improved patient outcomes. What’s missing is the will — and the infrastructure — to finish the job. “Broadband is the new stethoscope,” Herman said.
Howie: How Minnesota is quietly rewriting the rules of rural health care
The next era of rural health depends on designing systems that reward results rather than codes, that measure well-being rather than billing.