Essentia

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In: Bargaining, Duluth, Duluth Bargaining, Essentia, Home, Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Contact: Shannon Cunningham

651-269-1418

Shannon.Cunningham@mnnurses.org

 

(Duluth, MN) – June 12, 2025 – Today, Minnesota nurses requested for a mediator to step in and help resolve contract negotiations with Essentia Health, following months of stonewalling and ongoing unfair labor practices that threaten patient safety. This rare step is to bring integrity back to the bargaining table. Nurses have also requested that Essentia withdraw all anti-union proposals put forth so far.

MNA’s request, delivered during the June 12 bargaining session today, reflects the union’s continued effort to reach a fair contract that prioritizes safe staffing levels and patient care.
… Read more about: MNA nurses request mediator as Essentia escalates anti-union tactics  »

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In: Duluth, Duluth Bargaining, Essentia, Home, Informational Picket, Press Releases, Two Harbors

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

(Duluth) – June 3, 2025 –  As Essentia nurses with the Minnesota Nurses Association prepare for an informational picket tomorrow, they are also announcing the filing of an Unfair Labor Practice charge against Essentia for bad faith bargaining.

Over six months ago, Essentia’s Patient Flow nurses qualified for and won an armour-globe election, allowing them to join the existing MNA contract. Despite this, Essentia is erroneously and illegally demanding that these nurses should be a part of a different bargaining unit.

This is the first charge filed by MNA for the Essentia RN contract, but Essentia continues to be a serial violator of labor law.
… Read more about: Nurses announce Unfair Labor Practice charge against Essentia on eve of info picket   »

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In: Duluth, Duluth Bargaining, Essentia, Home, Informational Picket, Press Releases, St. Lukes

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

(St. Paul, MN) – May 22 – More than ​​2,600 Registered Nurses, Advanced Practice Providers, clinic and hospice nurses in Duluth today announced their intent to hold an informational picket at ​​Essentia and Aspirus St. Luke’s on Wednesday, June 4, 2025, to demand urgent action to address the crisis of understaffing, unsafe conditions, and executive-driven decision-making that puts profits before patient care. The staffing crisis has grown so severe that, for the first year ever, Minnesota nurses ranked safe staffing above pay as an issue to address in negotiations this year.
… Read more about: Nurses plan to picket Duluth hospitals to demand action on staffing crisis  »

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In: Action, Essentia, Home, Press Releases

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

 

(Duluth) – May 20, 2025 – Earlier today, frontline healthcare staff and community members in Duluth raised urgent concerns about declining patient care and unsafe staffing levels at Essentia Health — even as the not-for-profit system receives millions in tax exemptions meant to benefit the public.

Since the 1950s, hospitals have had a public health mandate to give back to their communities with the savings major tax breaks give them. Yet, a new report by the Minnesota Nurses Association and National Nurses United found that major Minnesota hospitals, including Essentia Health, are breaking their bargain with the public.
… Read more about: Duluth nurses and providers sound the alarm as Essentia pockets tax breaks, cuts patient care   »

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In: Bargaining, Essentia, Home, Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Contact: Laurie Laker
(c) 612-741-0662
laurie.laker@mnnurses.org

Shannon Cunningham 
(c) 61-269-1418
shannon.cunningham@mnnurses.org

(Duluth, MN) – May 8, 2025 – As Essentia Health executives prepare to conduct a press conference today, nurses are calling out what the hospital system is not doing: addressing the ongoing staffing crisis that is putting patients at risk.

“Essentia executives will make one thing clear today—they’d rather talk about nurses than with us,” said Chris Rubesch, an Essentia nurse and President of the Minnesota Nurses Association. “During National Nurses Week, they’re holding a press conference while refusing to fix the unsafe conditions nurses have raised for years.
… Read more about: Essentia Executives Choosing PR Over Patients, Say Nurses  »

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In: Essentia, Home, Labor Unions, Nurse Staffing, Nurses, Nurses Strike, Organizing, Press Releases

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Contact: Laurie Laker
(c) 612-741-0662
laurie.laker@mnnurses.org

(Duluth) – January 30, 2025 – Last night Essentia Health-Sandstone nurses represented by the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) voted overwhelmingly to authorize an unfair labor practice strike if contract negotiations with the employer continue to stall.  Their contract expired on August 1, 2024, and, while they have been bargaining since July, nurses have made little progress with the employer on key issues like wages and staff retention.

Nurses at Sandstone have long been facing issues around staffing conditions, continually raising concerns about staff retention, nurses stepping away from the bedside, and now a cross-facility floating proposal from Essentia.
… Read more about: Essentia-Health Sandstone nurses vote to authorize strike amid faltering contract negotiations  »

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In: Duluth, Duluth Bargaining, Essentia, Home, Labor Unions, Press Releases

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Contact: Laurie Laker
(c) 612-741-0662
laurie.laker@mnnurses.org

(Duluth) – December 10, 2024 – Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) from Essentia’s East Market held a press conference on Monday evening at the Duluth Labor Temple to mark the one-year anniversary of their historic effort to secure union representation with the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA).

Over the last year, the APPs have made significant strides in their organizing efforts, successfully forming their union and winning their election in July 2024. Despite the National Labor Relations Board’s certification of the vote, Essentia has repeatedly refused to recognize the union or come to the table to negotiate a contract in good faith.
… Read more about: Essentia East Market APPs honor union anniversary, call for return to bargaining table  »

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In: Duluth, Essentia, Home, Press Releases

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Amber Smigiel
(c) 651-202-0845
amber.smigiel@mnnurses.org

Lauren Bloomquist
(c) 651-376-9709
lauren.bloomquist@mnnurses.org
Election grows the number of new MNA members to more than 700 so far in 2024

WATCH: Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) at Essentia’s East Market announce the results of their election vote  

(Duluth) – July 24, 2024 – On Tuesday, July 23, 2024, Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) at Essentia’s East Market announced they voted overwhelmingly to be represented by the Minnesota Nurses Association. The APPs filed for an election with the National Labor Relations Board on November 27.
… Read more about: Healthcare workers at Essentia East Market Advanced Practice Providers vote overwhelmingly for union representation  »

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In: Duluth, Essentia, Home, Organizing, Press Releases

MEDIA ADVISORY

 

Contact: Amber Smigiel
(c) 651-202-0845
amber.smigiel@mnnurses.org

Lauren Bloomquist
(c) 651-376-9709
lauren.bloomquist@mnnurses.org

 

(Duluth) – July 23, 2024 – Today, July 23, 2024, Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) at Essentia’s East Market will hold a press conference to announce the results of their election vote to be represented by the Minnesota Nurses Association. The APPs filed for an election with the National Labor Relations Board on November 27. The election was delayed for months as Essentia challenged the composition of the proposed bargaining unit through the legal process laid out by the NLRB.
… Read more about: Healthcare workers at Essentia East Market Advanced Practice Providers to announce results of vote to unionize  »

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In: Duluth, Essentia, Home, Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Amber Smigiel
(c) 651-202-0845
amber.smigiel@mnnurses.org

Lauren Bloomquist
(c) 651-376-9709
lauren.bloomquist@mnnurses.org

Nurses join nearly 250 Essentia workers who have voted to form a union with MNA so far in 2024 

(Duluth) – July 11, 2024 – Today Essentia Health-Duluth Clinic 3rd Street and Patient Flow hospital nurses announced that they voted overwhelmingly to form unions represented by the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) this week to gain a collective voice in their workplaces to improve working conditions and how care is provided to their patients.

“We are excited to be part of a union and now have a say in our nursing role,” said Keri Sterbenz, RN in Patient Flow at Essentia Health-Duluth Hospital.
… Read more about: Nurses at Essentia Health-Duluth Clinic 3rd Street and Patient Flow hospital nurses vote overwhelmingly for union representation  »