MNA Legislative Report 2023: Nurses' Fight for the Anti-corporatization of Healthcare in MN in 2023

MNA Legislative Report 2023

Nurses’ Fight for the Anti-corporatization of Healthcare in Minnesota in 2023

Corporate healthcare executives hold too much power over patients, nurses, and our political process. The same hospital CEOs who refuse to solve the safe staffing crisis are holding our elected officials hostage to inaction. From donating to anti-nurse politicians to running ad campaigns against nurse priorities, hospitals executives are the root cause of our profit-driven healthcare system in Minnesota.

Nurses and allies must continue to stand up to corporate power by organizing, both in the workplace and at the Capitol, to match the power of corporate healthcare’s profits with true people power. Nurses’ recent fights at the bar-

gaining table and at the Capitol reveal that the public opinion is on the side of nurses, and consistent, strategic action by nurses, patients, and healthcare advocates has revealed significant wins in the fight against the corporatization of healthcare in Minnesota. It’s time for hospital CEOs to be held accountable to patients, not profits.

Profit-Driven Healthcare in Minnesota

Minnesota hospital CEOs make up to 40 times more per year than the average registered nurse. Hospital executives use this expendable cash to influence politics. In the last election cycle, the CEOs from ten of the largest health systems and hospitals in Minnesota donated nearly $75,000.

These same hospitals employ nearly 60 lobbyists who are at the Capitol, contacting legislators, and using their time and titles to influence policy. The MN Hospital Association (MHA) alone employs six lobbyists plus a research team focused on fighting against MNA policy priorities. In comparison, MNA has two full-time lobbyists to counter their work.

Hospital CEOs also make up most of the MHA Board of Directors; members include:

• James Hereford, President and CEO of M Health Fairview ($2.77m in 2021)

• Rachelle Schultz, Ed.D., President & CEO of Winona Health Services ($442k in 2020)

• David Herman, M.D., CEO of Essentia Health ($2.69m in 2020)

• Rahul Koranne, MBA, MD, FACP, President & CEO of MHA

• Steven Underdahl, President & CEO of Northfield Hospital & Clinics

• Sara Criger, Sr. VP of Allina Health Operations at Allina Health ($1.27m in 2020)

• J. Kevin Croston, M.D., FACS, CEO of North Memorial Health ($2.05m in 2021)

• Jennifer DeCubellis, LPC, CEO of Hennepin Healthcare

• Marc Gorelick, M.D., MSCE, President & CEO of Children’s Hospital ($1.48m in 2020)

• Kenneth Holmen, M.D., President & CEO of CentraCare ($1.46m in 2020)

• Megan Remark, MHA, MBA CHIE, President of Regions Hospital

• Patricia Banks, CEO of Ely-Bloomenson Community Hospital ($193k in 2021)

• Michael Phelps, President & CEO of Ridgeview Medical Center

• Dan Olson, FACHE, Executive Director of Sanford Health Network at Sanford Bemidji ($403k in 2021)

• Carrie Michalski, President & CEO of RiverView Health ($339k in 2021)

• Greg Ruberg, FACHE, President & CEO of Lake View Hospital ($275k in 2021)

• Bill Nelson, CEO of Mille Lacs Health System ($467k in 2020)

• Thomas Kooiman, MHA, Administrator at Avera Granite Falls

• Mary Theurer, District Board Chair at Lakewood Health System

Despite hospitals being “nonprofits,” most of these same wealthy hospital CEOs are also active members of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, an organization that lobbies and spends political dollars to advance anti-labor and pro-corporation legislation – and directly opposes the priorities of the labor movement, including MNA. Many of the healthcare executives involved with MHA, including those of Mayo Clinic and Fairview, either currently or have previously sat on the Chamber’s Board of Directors. Most of these healthcare executives also donate to political candidates who are hostile to nurses’ efforts at the Capitol to improve outcomes for patients, nurses, and other healthcare workers.

Deceitful Advertising

Throughout the 2023 Legislative Session, opponents of the Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act spent thousands on ads attacking the bill. The Minnesota Hospital Association spent $29,863 on 35 individual Facebook ads targeting the Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act during session.

These paid advertisements made the baseless claim that 70,000 Minnesotans could lose access to hospital care if the Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act passed. MHA never provided sources for how they arrived at the 70,000 figure.

Election Spending and Corporate Dark Money

Unfortunately, inadequate federal and state campaign finance laws make it difficult or impossible to track much of the political donations and spending that happens in campaigns. Most of the major money in elections is raised, shuffled around, and spent through political action committees (PACs). While PACs are legally required to disclose their donors, some cannot trace the majority of their funding back to the original donor and are, effectively, dark money channels. However, some information is known about the political spending of corporate PACs in the last election cycle. Below is just a small sampling of some of the anti-labor PACs that spent significant amounts of money in the 2022 election before lobbying against the priorities of MNA and other labor unions during the 2023 legislative session:

Ongoing opponent of safe staffing. Gave $17,500 to the MN Chamber’s anti-union Pro Jobs Majority PAC, and over $26,000 to campaigns that fought against MNA priorities during session.

Members include healthcare CEOs from Allina, Blue Cross Blue Shield, CentraCare, Children’s MN, Delta Dental, Essentia, Fairview, Gillette Children’s, HealthPartners, North Memorial, Park Dental, Mayo Clinic, and United Health. PAC also supported by CEOs from Delta Airlines, Huntington Bank, Wells Fargo, Xcel Energy, and many more.

MN Chamber’s Vice Chair is the Mayo CEO, and all other major MN healthcare CEOs are members. $203,000 was spent on candidates and campaigns opposed to MNA priorities.

Largely “dark money” that’s difficult to trace, this PAC spent significant dollars supporting anti-labor campaigns. Received $17,500 from MHA.

Of the traceable contributions, every dollar was spent campaigning against MNA-endorsed candidates and/or supporting candidates that have been actively opposed to MNA’s priorities.

Received $945,000 from MN Chamber. Of traceable contributions, nearly every dollar spent directly against MNA-endorsed candidates or supporting MNA-opposed candidates.

In addition to industry associations and PACs, a significant number of hospital CEOs, executives, and lobbyists used their large personal salaries to try and influence the legislature. Below are just a few healthcare CEOs and their donations to political campaigns in the 2022 election:

• Lisa Shannon, CEO, Allina: $5,000

• James Hereford, CEO, Fairview: $11,500

• Gianrico Farrugia, CEO, Mayo Clinic: $10,000

• Andrea Walsh, CEO, HealthPartners: $16,000

• Bill Gassen, CEO, Fairview: $4,000

• Jennifer DeCubellis, CEO, Hennepin Health: $2,850

• David Herman, CEO, Essentia: $13,265

• Marc Gorelick, CEO, Children’s: $8,000

• Kenneth Holmen, CEO, CentraCare: $4,500

In addition to campaign spending, anti-labor interests also fund a significant number of paid lobbyists who work aggressively throughout session to derail and kill labor priorities, including MNA’s. The graph to the right shows the number of paid lobbyists from most of Minnesota’s major hospital systems – which still does not capture every healthcare, pharmaceutical, or pro-business/anti-labor lobbyist that has worked against MNA over the past year, compared with the number of MNA’s paid lobbyists working to advance nurse priorities at the Capitol.

Total paid hospital lobbyists: 63

Total paid MNA lobbyists: 2

Nurse Champions Standing Up Against Corporate Interests

Whether it was fighting for safe staffing and the Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act, regulations on healthcare mergers, or other MNA legislative priorities, several legislators stood out during the 2023 legislative session as champions for nurses and patients:

Sen. Jim Abeler (35 – Anoka, Coon Rapids, and Andover)

Senator Abeler is a long-time champion for MNA and is willing to do the right thing for nurses even when facing strong pushback and possible political repercussions. He was a solid supporter of KNABA throughout the legislative session and was willing to have challenging conversations to come up with positive solutions to ensure that nurses and patients have safe staffing in hospitals.

Rep. Kaela Berg (55B – Burnsville)

Vocal MNA supporter and Vice Chair of the House Labor Committee, Representative Berg served on the KNABA conference committee, working hard to secure support from members of her caucus. She was a co-author of MNA’s top two legislative priorities, the Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act (KNABA), as well as HF402, the healthcare merger regulations bill.

Rep. Robert Bierman (56A – Apple Valley)

Representative Bierman was the lead author of HF402, a pro-patient and pro-worker piece of legislation that creates the most innovative set of new regulations governing healthcare mergers in the nation. The new law intends to reduce consolidation, antitrust violations, union-busting, and other profit-driven activities that have been contributing to increased corporatization and consolidation within Minnesota’s healthcare system. Among other great items in the bill are a new set of “public interest” provisions centered on patient care, protecting the healthcare delivery system, and standing up for healthcare workers – requiring the state to now consider impacts to the number of workers, worker wages, existing collective bargaining units and agreements, and other provisions when reviewing a proposed merger. HF402 also creates a prohibition on any UMN hospitals from being owned or operated by an out-of-state entity, unless proven in the public interest, among other items. In addition to working very closely with MNA to develop and pass HF402, Bierman was also a co-author for KNABA and worked hard to get it passed.

Sen. Liz Boldon (25 – Rochester)

A registered nurse herself, Senator Boldon served on the KNABA conference committee and worked hard to get the bill passed. Not only was she actively seeking out members of the Legislature who might have been wavering in the final hours of session, but she showed great personal bravery by speaking out publicly against the extortion and other coercive tactics of her own employer, Mayo Clinic.

Sen. Kari Dziedzic (60 – Minneapolis)

Currently serving in her fifth term, Senator Dziedzic was elected Senate Majority Leader prior to the start of session, making her the leader of the DFL Senate caucus as well as the entire chamber. Dziedzic wielded that new power to help push through a multitude of pro-labor bills, despite having only a oneseat majority in the Minnesota Senate. The Majority Leader supported Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act (KNABA), raised concerns publicly about the proposed Sanford-Fairview merger, and helped support the passage of HF402.

Keith Ellison, Minnesota Attorney General

After having served in the Minnesota House of Representatives and also the U.S. House of Representatives representing Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, Keith Ellison is currently in his second term as Minnesota Attorney General. A longtime ally to nurses and Labor, Ellison has utilized his current role as “The Peoples’ Attorney” to go after corporate power and strengthen consumer (and patient) protections. When Sanford and Fairview announced their intent to merge, Ellison and his office sprung into action to make sure multiple avenues were available for workers, stakeholders, and other members of the public to voice their concerns. Throughout the 2023 session, Ellison and his staff were vital to ensuring the successful passage of the new healthcare merger regulations law, HF402, with the Attorney General himself working very hard over the final days of session to make sure it had the votes needed to pass.

Rep. Sandra Feist (39B – New Brighton) Lead author of KNABA in the House, Representative Feist worked tremendously hard throughout the legislative session for nurses to get safe staffing, workplace safety measures, and student loan forgiveness passed into law. She collaborated with many stakeholders and legislators to hear concerns and work to make KNABA a stronger piece of legislation. Her strong commitment to safe staffing, and to nurses, was made clear throughout session.

Rep. Leigh Finke (66A – St. Paul)

As a first-year legislator, Representative Finke is an absolute powerhouse whose impact at the Minnesota Capitol is already taking shape through her strong advocacy for LBQTQIA+ and equity inclusion. During one of the most challenging days during the nurse sit-in outside the Governor’s office, she ensured that nurses knew she saw through the divisive and untrue narrative the MN Hospital Association was pushing about nurses and brought hope to nurses at the Capitol. Her understanding of the negative influence of corporate power is incredibly valuable and is changing Minnesota politics.

Rep. Cedrick Frazier (43A –New Hope and Crystal)

Genuinely pro-worker and pro-Minnesotan, Representative Frazier is a true champion for nurses at the legislature. Frazer is always willing to confront challenging issues and works to achieve an outcome that values workers and equity over corporate profits and the status quo. He is an advocate for patients and healthcare equity, and a strong voice for nurses – fighting for safe staffing and better working conditions.

Rep. Emma Greenman (63B –Minneapolis)

Representative Greenman is so authentically pro-Labor and pro-worker that she campaigned on building a democracy that puts the power of the people first and fights against corporate power. Greenman led on many labor bills this session including the warehouse safety bill and is a strong advocate for nurse priorities in the House. She uses her strong and well-informed voice to fight back and ensure that nurse and other worker voices are the center of her policy work.

Rep. Jess Hanson (55A – Burnsville)

Representative Hanson served as the lead author of the huge children’s mental health policy and funding package that would drastically reshape the resources and systems in place to provide mental health services and supports to Minnesota children. Although the Legislature did not ultimately fully fund the package, Hanson’s hard work led to increases in investment and better supports for children moving forward. She was also a fierce advocate for MNA more broadly during session, signing on as a co-author for both KNABA and HF402.

Rep. Michael Howard (51A - Richfield)

In his third term in the House, Representative Howard has proven his strong support for nurses at the legislator. He is an enthusiastic champion for nurse issues and utilized his relationships within his caucus to garner support behind the scenes for KNABA. During the last weekend of session when everything was incredibly stressful, his unequivocable promotion of the need to pass safe staffing, provided hope and light to nurses.

Rep. Sydney Jordan (60A –Minneapolis)

One of the strongest pro-labor voices in the Legislature, and author of the “Union Freedoms Bill” that was largely incorporated into the final labor omnibus bill, Representative Jordan was the biggest reason why staffing ratios will become a mandatory topic of collective bargaining for all public workers beginning July 1 (including MNA members who are public workers). Jordan sees staffing ratios as a central piece to any collective bargaining unit’s desire to establish safe staffing, and was a fierce supporter of nurses. Few legislators have ever gotten more pro-labor provisions into state law than Jordan has already managed to do in her time in the House.

Rep. Ginny Klevorn (42B – Plymouth)

As Chair of the House State and Local Government Committee, Representative Klevorn oversaw a number of positive changes and investments to state and local government this session. Klevorn advocated for MNA priorities including increased funding for the Attorney General’s Office to investigate and prosecute antitrust cases-including healthcare antitrust cases such as those that have contributed to greater corporatization of healthcare. She’s a fierce advocate for increased transparency and accountability when it comes to the finances and transactions taking place in our healthcare system, likely one of the reasons she was such a strong supporter of HF402. The work she did reaching out to other legislators in the final days of session was crucial to keeping KNABA alive longer.

Rep. Alicia Kozlowski (8B – Duluth)

A new legislator, Representative Kozlowski was strong and consistent in supporting MNA’s work at the Legislature. As news about Mayo Clinic’s extortion attempts became public, few legislators were as visible and vocal in support of nurses, safe staffing, and MNA as Kozlowski. Kozlowski was also a co-author of HF402, and spoke up against the corporatization of healthcare – and in support of nurses – in multiple committee hearings.

Rep. Tina Liebling (26A – Rochester)

Representative Tina Liebling is the powerful and capable chair of the House Health Committee and is a strong champion for nurses. Chair Liebling’s advocacy throughout session ensured that KNABA and HF402, both for which she was a co-author, as well as other important healthcare reforms and investments passed through the health committee and made it into the health omnibus bill. She is changing the way in which healthcare works in Minnesota for the better and incorporates nurse priorities into this work in a meaningful and smart way that enables MNA nurses to have a strong voice in the process and at the table where decisions are made.

Rep. Jamie Long (61B – Minneapolis)

Majority Leader Long’s work this session in leadership cannot be overlooked. He and his staff provided MNA the support needed to move KNABA and HF402, as well as children’s mental health reform. He utilized his role in leadership to provide instrumental intervention on all nurse legislative priorities, and he supported strong progressive policy throughout every committee in the House. Every week, he and his team listened to Labor’s concerns and worked with unions to fight against powerful corporate interests that worked aggressively to undermine Labor’s efforts to pass significant pro-worker policies this session. Without his leadership, the outcome of session would be quite different, and Minnesotans are much better off thanks to his work.

Sen. John Marty (40 – Roseville)

A longtime legislator and supporter of nurses, Senator Marty was a crucial ally for MNA’s top two legislative priorities – both of which he was a co-author on – KNABA and HF402. Marty spoke to multiple members of his caucus about the critical need for new healthcare antitrust regulations, and was instrumental in making sure the key provisions of the bill that will prevent bad healthcare mergers were not watered down or stripped in the Senate near the end of session. He was also a strong and vocal supporter of KNABA, publicly stressing the importance of safe staffing for nurses, and never wavered on MNA.

Sen. Erin Maye Quade (56 –Apple Valley, Rosemont, and Eagan)

Senator Maye Quade left the audience in tears as she gave a passionate speech in defense of KNABA on the floor of the Minnesota Senate, where she championed the work of nurses and how vital legislation to support nurses in their calls for safe staffing is to the overall health and well-being of all Minnesotans. With her own personal experience shaping her speech, she demonstrated her strong desire to ensure that nurses were not completely left behind this session and what a strong advocate she is for nurses at the legislature. Maye Quade also led on several other important labor and health issues, including authoring legislation that protects nurses and other healthcare workers that provide abortion services or gender-affirming care from being prosecuted by officials outside of the State of Minnesota whose laws differ on these types of services.

Sen. Jen McEwen (8 – Duluth)

Senator McEwen showed, throughout session, why leadership in the Senate DFL made the right choice in making her Chair of the Senate Labor Committee. In tandem with Rep. Jordan in the House, McEwen worked fiercely to make sure that the “Union Freedoms Bill” provisions made it into the final labor omnibus bill. Minnesota passed what might be the most pro-union labor omnibus in Minnesota’s history, which included Earned Safe & Sick Time, a ban on captive audience meetings, a number of provisions that will make it easier for public sector unions to organize, and many more pro-worker pieces. McEwen helped to ensure that staffing ratios as a mandatory subject of bargaining for public workers would also be included in the omnibus, changing the landscape for MNA members in the public sector. She was also a vocal and persistent supporter of nurses, making calls in the middle of the night on the last weekend of session to fight for the legislature to pass MNA’s priority legislation.

Sen. Zaynab Mohamed (63 –Minneapolis and Richfield)

With a campaign focused on $15 minimum wage, single-payer healthcare, and public safety, Senator Mohamed is a strong voice advocating for communities whose voices are often left behind. She showed her willingness to ensure that nurses were not left behind at the end of session and helped MNA navigate challenging conversations and issues largely stemming from misinformation spread by the MN Hospital Association about nurses and key provisions related to safe staffing in KNABA. Senator Mohamed stood firmly and loudly with nurses until the very end of session, and frequently visited nurses outside the Governor’s office during the final days of session to show support.

Sen. Erin Murphy (64 – St. Paul)

Senator Erin Murphy, RN, was the lead author of KNABA in the Senate and is a longtime champion for nurses, safe staffing, and MNA. She showed grit, determination, and perseverance as she worked to get KNABA across the finish line in the Senate, and spent many late nights at the Capitol striving to pass meaningful safe staffing legislation. In addition to helping lead the charge on KNABA, Murphy was also a co-author for HF402 and vocal about her opposition to the Sanford-Fairview merger and the further corporatization of healthcare.

Rep. Michael Nelson (38A – Osseo and Brooklyn Park)

As chair of the House Labor and Industry Committee, Chair Nelson led the work to pass one of the most pro-Labor agendas through the Minnesota House. He was 100% on board to make sure KNABA was heard in the committee and strongly supported passing it through his committee. He spoke in defense of MNA when other legislators worked to paint our legislation in a negative light during the committee hearing. As chair, he truly led a committee where worker voices were valued and respected throughout the process.

Rep. Liz Olson (8A – Duluth)

Representative Olson is an amazing champion for nurses and workers. Her behind the scenes work this session to get safe staffing closer to passing in Minnesota than ever before cannot be understated. She is a leader for workers and Labor and never waivers in her support for nurses even when it may go against powerful actors at the Capitol. Under her leadership, the Legislature passed Earned Sick and Safe Time, one of the most important pro-worker bills this session – ensuring workers receive at least one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked

Rep. Laurie Pryor (49A – Minnetonka and Eden Prairie)

Representative Pryor was willing to listen to nurses’ concerns, understand the issues, and support safe staffing at hospitals because she believes it’s the right thing to do. Rep. Pryor shows that safe staffing does not need to be a worker vs administrator issue, rather she sees that unsafe staffing harms Minnesotans and understands that we can find common ground to pass meaningful legislation like KNABA and HF402 to better patient care and healthcare worker retention. She is an asset to the House Health Committee and the legislature.

Sen. Aric Putnam (14 – St. Cloud)

As a Senator in a targeted district, Senator Putnam is impressive with his willingness to do what he thinks is right for his district and for Minnesota, which includes supporting nurse priorities at the legislature. Putman took the time to meet with nurses from his district to hear their concerns about safe staffing at the St. Cloud Hospital. He led an honest and meaningful conversation so he could better understand their concerns and ensure that his questions were answered as well. Nurses were grateful for the amount of time he was willing to give as well as his support for safe staffing legislation.

Rep. Liz Reyer (52A – Eagan and Burnsville)

Representative Liz Reyer is an amazing champion for progressive healthcare reform, fighting to provide Minnesotans with equitable, quality, and affordable healthcare. When Mayo Clinic Health System decided to blackmail the legislature and the Governor, Reyer’s Healthcare Affordability Board was named along with KNABA as one the biggest threats to Mayo’s corporate power. She is also a strong advocate for nurses and is always willing to speak up for workers in the House Health Committee where she strongly supports pro-nurse legislation.

Rep. Andy Smith (25B – Rochester)

Another new face to the Legislature in 2023, Representative Andy Smith came out quickly and loudly to support nurses. An innovative and clever communicator on social media, Smith stood out as one of MNA’s most effective and consistent supporters in the Legislature, garnering public support for safe staffing through public-facing messaging. Smith stood strong in the face of his district’s largest employer, Mayo Clinic Health System, who was actively working to pressure the Legislature into killing KNABA. He was also a strong, vocal supporter of HF402 during committee hearings.

Rep. Zack Stephenson (36A –Champlin and Coon Rapids)

As chair of the House Commerce Committee, Stephenson is a true friend to MNA. He helped with much of the early development of what eventually became known as HF402, the healthcare merger regulations bill, which he was also a co-author on and worked behind the scenes to garner support within the caucus. He led the work to fight corporate power through his bill creating the Prescription Drug Affordability Board (PDAB) as well as his price gouging legislation that prohibits companies from unfairly raising prices on consumers during pandemics or other public emergencies. His intentional and thoughtful work this past session will have great impacts on healthcare and business throughout Minnesota in the years to come.

Sen. Melissa Wiklund (51 – Bloomington)

Currently in her fourth term in the Minnesota Senate, and first as Chair of the Health & Human Services Committee, Senator Wiklund served as the chief author of the healthcare merger regulations bill (HF402) in the Senate, and also served as a co-author on the Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act (KNABA). Wiklund leveraged her new role as chair of the committee that oversees healthcare policy to push a number of significant healthcare policies aimed at increasing access and affordability, such as establishing a Healthcare Affordability Board, making MinnesotaCare more accessible to more Minnesotans, new requirements for healthcare providers around increased transparency on medical billing and pricing, and increased investments in mental health.

Building Nurse Power in Minnesota

Nurse Strides in Fighting Corporate Power

As corporate power grows across the country, nurses in Minnesota have been making strides in the fight against corporate power. In the last year alone:

• 15,000 nurses across 13 hospitals went on strike in September 2022—the largest private-sector nursing strike in Minnesota history

• Nurses at seven hospitals across the state voted “no confidence” in their hospital leadership

• Allina and Fairview nurses confronted Allina Health CEO Lisa Shannon and M Health Fairview executive Jakub Tolar as they met with investment bankers pushing corporate health policies in our hospitals

• Hundreds of nurses led a march and occupied the lobbies of U.S. Bancorp and Wells Fargo headquarters in downtown Minneapolis to protest hospital executives’ involvement on the boards of these banks and the banks’ financing of various aspects of the MN healthcare system

Nurses’ Wins at the Capitol in 2023

Nurses’ electoral work leading to the November 2022 elections helped Minnesota win a worker friendly majority trifecta at the legislature, which then led to huge wins around the anti-corporatization of healthcare in Minnesota at the Capitol this spring. Those wins include:

• A new law that will provide important safety and

regulatory authority to the State around healthcare mergers and will help prevent harmful consolidation and the further corporatization of healthcare in Minnesota;

• Extending the moratorium on health maintenance organizations (HMOs) converting from nonprofit to for-profit entities, through July 2026, and funding for a related study that should provide the state with more data to crack down on healthcare antitrust violations;

• New consumer protections related to pricegouging, including regulations that will prevent companies from unfairly raising prices on items like masks, hand sanitizer, or household essentials during times of public emergencies;

• The establishment of a Prescription Drug Affordability Board that is empowered to investigate cost increases of prescription drugs, publish reports on pricing trends, and when appropriate, establish limits on the amount paid to purchase prescription drugs.

While fighting for these wins, nurses took on one of the biggest challenges to healthcare in Minnesota during session, the proposed merger of M Health Fairview and Sanford Health. MNA nurses came out in force when we learned about the proposed Fairview Sanford merger. Nurses’ voices in public meetings on the merger, at media events, and on social media created an incredibly powerful narrative about why the Attorney General (AG), Governor, and the legislature needed to act in order to prevent the further consolidation of the Minnesota healthcare market and ensure that worker and patient needs were the center of this conversation. Nurses built and strengthened co-governing relationships with key actors, including the AG, to engage on this issue. MNA worked as part of a tiny coalition – alongside the Minnesota Farmers Union, SEIU Healthcare, and UMN medical students from Students for a National Health Program (SNaHP) – to not only put pressure on executives from Fairview and Sanford in opposition of the proposed merger, but also to pass HF402, the healthcare merger regulations bill that works to eliminate many of the profit-driven incentives that continue to increase consolidation and corporatization in healthcare.

Nurses led a sustained and meaningful campaign for nearly a year where they called out corporate power and organized for the benefit of Minnesota communities and patients that culminated in the CEOs of Fairview and Sanford announcing on July 28 that the two entities called off their efforts to merge due to ongoing “opposition from certain stakeholders” – a huge win for Minnesota’s patients, communities, healthcare workers, and the healthcare delivery system. This could not have happened without nurses leading the way and turning up in large numbers to call for change.

Public Opinion Resides with Nurses

Despite corporate interests’ efforts to take over healthcare in Minnesota and sway the public opinion, the public still stands with nurses.

In 2022, the Gallup poll announced that nurses were the most trusted profession for the 21st year in a row with 79% of U.S. adults rating nurses having “very high” or “high” honesty and ethical standards.

According to MNA’s public polling in 2022, the public is deeply dissatisfied with the cost of healthcare, fueling the assumption in the public eye that hospitals are operating for-profit as well as a strong frustration with the excessive compensation of hospital executives and CEOs.

There is widespread knowledge amongst the Minnesota public that hospitals are plagued with capacity and staffing issues, leading to two-thirds of the public blaming these issues on hospital executives specifically. Only 11% of voters in Minnesota rate hospital executives and CEOs favorably.

Conclusion

It is clear that corporate power is still strong in Minnesota, but so are thousands of nurse advocate voices. MNA nurses will continue to dedicate themselves to fighting for provisions that will protect and improve both patient care and the nursing profession across the state.