Minnesota-Based Essentia Health, HealthPartners Announce Merger – What Patients Need To Know

Two major healthcare providers in Minnesota just announced that they are combining. Here's why Essentia Health and HealthPartners say they are merging, what it means for patients, and what to know about the just-announced new direction for the combined organization.

Duluth-based Essentia Health currently covers a footprint that spans from Central North Dakota to Northeastern Wisconsin, with several clinics across all three states and a handful of hospitals across Northern and Central Minnesota.

Meanwhile, Bloomington-based HealthPartners has a more condensed coverage area, with hospitals and clinics centered around the Twin Cities area, and its footprint extends from Central Minnesota and eastward into Western Wisconsin.

In teaming up, this will bring 22 hospitals and more than 135 clinics across Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota all under one name. HealthPartners and Essentia Health say the two entities together serve more than 2 million patients across the three states.

As these two healthcare groups combine, the name Essentia Health will be dropped, with HealthPartners being the name the newly combined organization will operate under.

Why are Essentia Health and HealthPartners combining?

In documentation about the announcement, the two organizations cite "significant financial headwinds" facing the healthcare industry while costs continue to go up faster than reimbursement, all while an aging population creates a greater demand for care.

Referring to themselves as "two healthy, growing organizations with complementary strengths", they say combining will create "a stronger platform to innovate, improve affordability and keep high-quality care close to home, with local needs and relationships at the center."

How will this impact patients of either Essentia Health or HealthPartners?

The two organizations say members of either organization should not experience any changes or interruptions when it comes to health benefits or plan coverage.

When it comes to care, the two organizations say combining will "result in more choices, better coordination of care, broader access and a better experience for those we serve".

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HealthPartners and Essentia Health also say the combination of efforts will address healthcare affordability " through better coordination, shared expertise, aligned investments and less complexity over time". In addition, they say this merger will improve healthcare quality through things like "broader clinical expertise, stronger practice support, expanded research and better tools, including telehealth, remote monitoring and data analytics".

For the next few months, patients and members won't see any changes at all. The two organizations will continue to operate separately as the merger undergoes regulatory review. They say the goal is to see this process wrap up by the end of 2026, with plans to operate as a singular, combined organization starting at the beginning of 2027.

How does this impact employees at Essentia Health and HealthPartners?

The two healthcare organizations say they are "committed to working in good faith with labor organizations", honoring all existing collective bargaining agreements and contracts.

They also say the combined operations will afford employees "expanded career pathways, educational opportunities, academic partnerships and shared expertise across a larger integrated organization".