Essentia

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In: Essentia, Home, Hospitals, Press Releases, Unions, Workplace violence prevention

(Brainerd, MN) – October 28, 2025 – Nurses with the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) are once again outraged and deeply concerned after two more violent assaults on nurses at Essentia Health. A nurse at Essentia Health St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Brainerd was attacked by a patient last Thursday, followed by another assault at the same facility over the weekend.

The latest incidents come less than two weeks after two nurses were injured at Essentia Health St. Mary’s Medical Center in Duluth. Four nurses assaulted in under two weeks reflects a dangerous pattern in Essentia facilities—one that nurses have been warning about for years.
… Read more about: Four nurses in Two Weeks Assaulted at Essentia Hospitals: Nurses Say Violence is a Consequence of Unsafe Staffing and Inaction  »

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In: Duluth, Essentia, Home, Hospitals, Nurse Staffing, Nurses, Press Releases, Unsafe Staffing, Workplace violence prevention

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Diamond Palmer
612-741-0662
communications@mnnurses.org

(Duluth, MN) – October 16, 2025 – The Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) is outraged and deeply saddened to learn that two nurses were assaulted by a patient at Essentia Health St. Mary’s Medical Center. Both nurses required treatment in the Emergency Department following the attack, and the patient was subsequently taken into custody.

This incident is not an isolated event—it is the tragic result of years of inaction and conditions that put staff and patients at risk at Essentia. Nurses and healthcare workers have repeatedly raised alarms about unsafe staffing levels and the growing threat of workplace violence.
… Read more about: Nurses Condemn Assault of Two Nurses at Essentia St. Mary’s Medical Center  »

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In: Advanced Practice Providers, Duluth, Essentia

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: Duluth, Essentia, Home, Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Shannon Cunningham

651-269-1418

shannon.cunningham@mnnurses.org

 

(Duluth, MN) – August 20, 2025 – The following is a statement released by Minnesota Nurses Association President Chris Rubesch, RN: 

Nurses and healthcare workers at Essentia Health deserve a safe workplace where they can care for patients without fear of intimidation or retaliation. During MNA’s strike in July, clinic nurses and APPs on the picket line received threats from their direct supervisor at Essentia’s Superior and 3rd Street Urgent Care Clinics. He threatened to run them over with his car and shoot them with a paintball gun while they exercised their legal right to strike.
… Read more about: Statement from MNA President on Essentia supervisor’s threats to workers  »

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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: Action, Duluth, Essentia, Home, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurses, Organizing, Press Releases, ULP Strike, Unions

Union Demands Immediate Action After Weeks of Silence from Management

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

(Duluth, MN) – July 18, 2025 — Nurses at Essentia Health’s Superior and 3rd Street Clinics have reported multiple instances of threatening and retaliatory behavior by their direct supervisor. Despite formal notification to Essentia Health management on June 26, the employer has taken no public action and has not responded to the reports.

The Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA), representing the affected nurses, is demanding the immediate cessation of this behavior and accountability from Essentia Health.
… Read more about: Nurses Report Threats of Physical Violence and Intimidation from Supervisor at Essentia Health Clinics  »

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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: 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 9, 2025 – On the second day of the ongoing unfair labor practice strike in Duluth and Superior, nurses and healthcare professionals across all six Essentia Health bargaining units arrived at negotiations prepared to make progress — only to be met with rejection and dismissal. Essentia Health barred most teams from participating, sending them back to the picket lines, while agreeing to negotiate with only Superior and Third Street Clinic representatives. No meaningful negotiations took place and no progress was made towards resolving the unfair labor practices.
… Read more about: Essentia nurses and healthcare workers turned away from bargaining by employer on second day of ULP strike, acute care nurses announce tentative agreement vote results  »