INTERVIEW
Teaming up to serve patients Bevan Yueh, MD, MPH University of Minnesota Physicians What can you tell us about your ongoing rebranding initiatives?
Benson, MD, FACP, FAAP, chief academic officer, Tim Schacker, MD, vice dean for research, and their teams have led a number of clinical trials that demonstrate how our academic physicians are advancing the standard of care.
In 2019, the University of Minnesota, Fairview Health Services, and University of Minnesota Physicians began a new partnership known as M Health Fairview. This brand encompasses all the facilities and services in our joint clinical enterprise, including those acquired by Fairview when they purchased HealthEast in 2017.
Please tell us about your partnerships with Minnesota health care industry leaders.
One recent example stemmed from the concern that we would run out of ventilators during the COVID-19 crisis. Anesthesiologist Stephen Richardson, in partnership with the University’s Earl E. Bakken Medical Devices Center, worked with Boston Scientific, Medtronic, and UnitedHealth Group to develop the Coventor, a low-cost, simple-to-produce ventilator. These companies used their expertise to refine the ventilator and help get rapid FDA approval.
M Health Fairview is the brand we use to help the public understand who we are. It represents the powerful combination of academic medicine at the Medical School and University of Minnesota Physicians and the operational strength and reach of Fairview Health Services.
Please share some of the new learning that has come from the pandemic.
The pandemic clearly demonstrated the power of academic medicine. Our physicians were in communication with colleagues around the world in late 2019. We knew what was coming and we knew we’d have to prepare—pivoting research and clinical care resources to address the disease and the community impact. Our commitment to saving lives sends us in to overdrive during times like these. I have seen collaboration across specialties and disciplines like never before, a willingness to do things differently for the sake of our patients and the communities we serve. I am hearing a strong desire to continue this momentum to help conquer other challenges in health care today, including health disparities and access to care. What can you share about new learning from operational changes?
We have learned that virtual care is a real option for many kinds of visits. It opens up access—not only for patients far from our metro area, but also for those who are closer. The emergency orders in place during the first months
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It is critical for us to form new kinds of partnerships.
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The Medical School and M Physicians are the “M Health” in M Health Fairview. We bring research capabilities, innovative care models, and multi-specialty expertise, and we train the next generation of medical professionals.
of the pandemic paved the way for us to provide care to patients in some other states. Now we face licensing barriers to provide broader virtual care across state lines. We are consulting with other health care providers to address these issues and share best practices at an operational level. Please tell us about converting Bethesda Hospital into a COVID-19 facility.
We decided early on that we could provide the best care by creating “cohorts” of COVID patients. This meant keeping patients on dedicated units to improve efficiencies and to improve care. My colleague at Fairview, Mark Welton, MD, floated the idea: What if we make all of Bethesda a COVID hospital? In just over two weeks, our physicians stood up Bethesda to care for COVID patients— the first in the state and one of the first in the nation. We have since demonstrated great outcomes, with higher survival rates than in other metropolitan centers, and an extremely low rate of infections among health care workers. Brad
How are you addressing health disparities in our communities?
Many of our clinicians are involved daily in addressing health disparities. For example, research funded by the Medical School is helping physicians and learners in our family medicine clinics tackle access barriers faced by our Somali, Hmong, and Karen communities. Our Broadway Family Medicine Clinic has been serving the North Minneapolis community for more than 40 years. Tanner Nissly, DO, Kacey Justesen, MD, and their team partner in unique ways to improve both health and health care. Dr. Renée Crichlow’s Ladder Program helps kids from underrepresented populations pursue health care careers. They have also partnered with Second Harvest Heartland to address food insecurity and a lack of education regarding nutrition. They are currently relocating the clinic to a larger site and, with the help of a University grant, are partnering with the College of Design to create an innovative, community-focused clinical space. How are you dealing with institutional racism within your own organization?
Through our partnership with Fairview, we recently launched the Healing, Opportunity,
