Advanced Practice Providers

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In: Advanced Practice Providers, Duluth, Essentia, Home

My name is Jenna, and I am a Hospitalist at Essentia Health in Duluth.

I first experienced Duluth as a 20-year-old college student visiting with my mom to run the Garry Bjorklund half marathon. I thought it was a beautiful and intriguing place. At that time I was in school in Madison, WI and still figuring out my path in life. A few years later I was a physician assistant (PA) student at Duke in Durham, NC. I had pivotal student rotation experiences—I took care of all ages, I saw discrepancies in care and facilities on different sides of town and the state, I saw life born and touched the hands of life passing away.
… Read more about: They live here, too: The providers who keep northeast Minnesota healthy  »

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In: Advanced Practice Providers, Duluth, Duluth Bargaining, Essentia, Healthcare, Home, Labor Unions, Press Releases, Unions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Shannon Cunningham
(c) 651-269-1418
Shannon.Cunningham@mnnurses.org

Erin Moriarty
(c) 651-202-0845
Erin.Moriarty@mnnurses.org

More than 400 APPs highlight their vital role in healthcare and call for leadership to respect and support their contributions.

(Duluth, MN) – Sept 22, 2025 – This National Advanced Practice Provider (APP) Week, more than 400 APPs in Essentia Health’s East Market are celebrating their essential role in healthcare while demanding that Essentia’s leadership finally recognize their contributions. Nearly half of all patients in the Essentia system are cared for by an APP, making them the backbone of care in northern Minnesota.
… Read more about: APPs Celebrate National APP Week, Caring for Nearly Half of Essentia Patients  »

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In: Advanced Practice Providers, Bargaining, Duluth, Duluth Bargaining, Essentia, Healthcare, Home, Nurses, Nurses Strike, Nursing, Press Releases, ULP Strike, Unions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  

Contact: Shannon Cunningham
651-269-1418
Shannon.Cunningham@mnnurses.org 

 

Duluth, MN – July 25, 2025 – On Tuesday, clinic nurses, surgery center nurses, healthcare workers at Solvay Hospice House, and Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) with the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) concluded a powerful strike across Essentia Health facilities that involved nearly 700 frontline workers. The two-week strike by nurses and healthcare workers and 13-day strike by APPs brought statewide attention to Essentia’s unfair labor practices, including unlawful intimidation, surveillance, and clear attempts to bust the union. 

Yet, even after the strike’s end, Essentia is continuing to keep on travel nurses, when former striking healthcare workers are available and want to return to work. 
… Read more about: Negotiations move forward as Essentia delays return of striking workers  »

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In: Advanced Practice Providers, Essentia, Home, Nurses, Press Releases, ULP Strike

Contact: Shannon Cunningham

651-269-1418

Shannon.Cunningham@mnnurses.org

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Duluth, MN) – July 22, 2025 – Hundreds of frontline caregivers at Essentia Health will return to work following a powerful Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike. The group includes over 300 clinic nurses and 400 Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) who walked off the job to expose Essentia executives’ refusal to negotiate in good faith and their numerous ULPs, such as threats of violence against striking workers and interference in union activities. The two-week first contract ULP strike of clinic nurses and healthcare workers will end Wednesday morning.
… Read more about: Essentia Health clinic workers and Advanced Practice Providers end historic ULP strike  »

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In: Advanced Practice Providers, Bargaining, Duluth, Duluth Bargaining, Essentia, Home, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurses, Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  

Contact: Shannon Cunningham 
(c) 651-269-1418  
Shannon.Cunningham@mnnurses.org     

(Duluth, MN) – July 10, 2025 – On the third day of an ongoing Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike by nurses and healthcare workers at Essentia Health, Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) officially joined the walkout, escalating pressure on Essentia to stop violating federal labor law and begin bargaining in good faith. Picket lines expanded across Duluth and Superior, with a new line established in Virginia, Minnesota, as APPs took their place alongside striking clinic workers. 

Despite a clear ruling from the National Labor Relations Board that Essentia should begin bargaining with the APPs’ union, Essentia has continued to defy that order—refusing to meet, refusing to negotiate, and continuing to make unilateral changes to working conditions without bargaining. 
… Read more about: APPs join Essentia ULP strike as community support grows and pressure mounts on employer to bargain  »

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In: Advanced Practice Providers, Bargaining, Duluth, Duluth Bargaining, Essentia, Healthcare, Home, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurses, Press Releases

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Contact: Shannon Cunningham
651-269-1418
Shannon.Cunningham@mnnurses.org

Lauren Bloomquist
651-376-9709
Lauren.Bloomquist@mnnurses.org

(Duluth, MN) – July 8, 2025 – Nurses and healthcare workers at multiple Duluth and Superior healthcare facilities began their Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike against Essentia Health today, with picket lines spread across the region. Despite their hospital nurse counterparts settling a tentative agreement with Essentia on July 4, Essentia refused to meet with the now striking workers at any of the additional seven bargaining dates provided by MNA prior to the ULP strike.
… Read more about: After successful first day on ULP strike, nurses and healthcare workers renew call for Essentia to negotiate in good faith and settle ULPs   »

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In: Advanced Practice Providers, Bargaining, Duluth, Duluth Bargaining, Essentia, Healthcare, Home, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurses, Nursing, Press Releases, ULP Strike

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Shannon Cunningham
651-269-1418
Shannon.Cunningham@mnnurses.org

 

(Duluth, MN) – July 4, 2025 – This morning, after countless hours at the bargaining table, Essentia Twin Ports acute care hospital nurses reached a tentative agreement with their employer. As part of the settlement, Essentia has resolved its Unfair Labor Practices with the nurses, averting a strike. Nurses will vote whether to ratify the agreement in the coming weeks.

Nurses achieved updates to staffing language, including a one-year freeze on reductions to current staffing ratios. Nurses also fought off Essentia’s Management Rights clause, protected Labor Management Committee language, and achieved a wage increase of 9.75% spread over the three years of the contract.
… Read more about: BREAKING: Essentia Twin Ports hospital nurses avert strike, reach deal; Clinic nurses and APPs continue toward ULP strike  »

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In: Advanced Practice Providers, Bargaining, Duluth, Duluth Bargaining, Essentia, Healthcare, Home, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurses, Nursing, Press Releases, St. Lukes, ULP Strike, Uncategorized

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Contact: Shannon Cunningham
651-269-1418
Shannon.Cunningham@mnnurses.org

 

(Duluth, MN) – July 3, 2025 – Today, after months of contentious bargaining with hospital executives, nurses with the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) at Aspirus St. Luke’s hospital have pulled their 10-day strike notice and cancelled their Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) Strike. Nurses negotiated for more than 30 straight hours leading to a pending tentative agreement, with minor details left to finalize early next week.

Nurses have agreed to cancel their ULP strike after significant movement was made across the bargaining table.
… Read more about: BREAKING: Aspirus St. Luke’s hospital nurses pull ULP strike notice with pending deal; Essentia nurses and APPs prepare for action  »

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In: Advanced Practice Providers, Bargaining, Duluth, Duluth Bargaining, Essentia, Healthcare, Home, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Shannon Cunningham
651-269-1418
Shannon.Cunningham@mnnurses.org

 

(Duluth, MN) – June 30, 2025 – For the first time in MNA history, Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) have announced an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike. Today, over 400 APPs at 69 facilities in Essentia Health’s East Market delivered formal notice of a ULP strike set to begin July 10. The APPs include nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurse midwives, and clinical nurse specialists. The APPs are represented by the Minnesota Nurses Association, but Essentia has refused to recognize their union for nearly a year, instead responding with unlawful retaliation, intimidation, and sweeping changes to assignments—all violations of federal labor law.
… Read more about: 400 Advanced Practice Providers at Essentia Health announce first-ever APP ULP strike  »

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In: Advanced Practice Providers, Bargaining, Duluth, Duluth Bargaining, Essentia, Home, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurses, Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Shannon Cunningham
651-269-1418
Shannon.Cunningham@mnnurses.org

 

(Duluth, Minn) – June 25, 2025 – Essentia nurses with the Minnesota Nurses Association met with Essentia today for the final scheduled negotiation date prior to contract expiration on June 30, 2025. This comes on the heels of 15,000 nurses and Advanced Practice Providers in the Twin Cities metro and Twin Ports voting on Monday to authorize their negotiating teams to call an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike if necessary. Since April, Essentia nurses have been bargaining in good faith and advocating for safe staffing, fair compensation, and safer workplaces through their contract proposals.
… Read more about: Essentia nurses provide bargaining update as negotiations continue  »