St. Luke’s/Aspirus - Minnesota Nurses Association

St. Luke’s Leadership

Nicholas Van Deelen, MD, Aspirus Senior Vice President – President, Minnesota Region, MD, Aspirus Senior Vice President – President, Minnesota Region

Joined St. Luke’s as an emergency medicine physician in the 1990s.
In 2020, he was promoted to Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Medical Affairs. In 2021, he was promoted to Co-President/CEO along with Eric Lohn.
After St. Luke’s reduced staffing and wages during the pandemic, Van Deelen boasted that the hospital finished 2020 with a positive bottom line.
When named permanent Co-President/CEO, Brian Murphy, Past Chair of St. Luke’s Board of Directors noted that Van Deelen stepped into the CMO role when the pandemic hit and has “become the face of St. Luke’s, representing the organization and how it is handling this public health crisis.” Nurses know that under Van Deelen’s leadership, conditions only worsened.
“According to Hubbartt, 650 nurses were at St. Luke’s in 2019, and the most recent roster has 510 nurses. She said about half of the nurses in the emergency department have left, and a third of the intensive care unit’s nurses left in 2021. “That’s centuries of nursing experience we have lost,” Hubbartt said.”
Well connected to Duluth’s for profit business and banking industries through his role on the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce.

Total Compensation: Aspirus St. Luke’s did not disclose Hannu’s salary on their reporting documents, but salaries for similar positions at St. Luke’s can be found here.

David M. Heck, Chief Operating Officer, Heck Capital Advisors
- Heck Capital Advisors is an Investment Advisory Firm that oversees over $10 billion in assets
Richard V. Poirier, Former Insurance Company Executive
- During his tenure as chief executive and president of Church Mutual Insurance Company, which calls itself “the country’s leading insurer of religious organizations,” the company faced criticism and legal challenges for engaging in unfair insurance claims practices.
- A Federal Judge called out Church Mutual’s “repeated mishandling of claims and failure to resolve claims,” stating that “Church Mutual has established a pattern of systematic failure to resolve insurance claims through the Streamlined Settlement.” Healthcare decisions should not be left to those who would stoop so low as to rip off churches.