Kratom is sold as a natural remedy for pain, fatigue, and other conditions, but increasingly potent products are raising concerns about addiction and other serious health risks. In this episode, Dr. Robert Cole Pueringer from Essentia Health explains what Minnesotans should know as the state raises the minimum purchasing age to 21.

Host: Tim Nelson, Minnesota Hospital Association

Guest: Dr. Robert Cole Pueringer, Essentia Health

About half of pet owners would delay hospital care because of reasons related to their pet. When Dr. Nora Bennani realized her patient was refusing care because she has no one to take care of her pet, Dr. Bennani realized this was a problem she could solve. She founded the nonprofit, Sunny's Helping Paws, to help find foster families for pets while their owners are in the hospital.

Host: Tim Nelson, Minnesota Hospital Association

Guest: Dr. Nora Bennani, hematologist and professor with the Mayo Clinic, and founder and chair of Sunny's Helping Paws

Nearly 2 million people visit the Minnesota State Fair every year – and Regions Hospital is there to keep them safe and healthy. Emergency medicine physician Dr. Nick Maleska talks about what it takes to care for fairgoers at the Great Minnesota Get-Together.

Host: Tim Nelson, Minnesota Hospital Association

Guest: Dr. Nick Maleska, Regions Hospital

Minnesota's Affordable Care Act marketplace, MNSure, is ready for enrollees this fall, even as federal tax subsidies have lapsed and premium prices rise. MNSure CEO Libby Caulum and Julia Dreier, deputy commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Commerce's insurance division say the end of enhanced federal tax credits have prompted major changes in enrollment, and that more challenges, like so-called "junk plans" loom for consumers in 2027. Caulum also said Minnesota has robust verification for enrollees that has prevented ACA fraud that has drawn headlines in other states.

Two years after the Change Healthcare cyberattack, cybersecurity continues to be a key focus for hospitals and health systems. On this episode, expert Fred Langston shares how the threat landscape has evolved and the trends shaping cybersecurity today.

Guest: Fred Langston, Stillwater Group

Host: Tim Nelson, Minnesota Hospital Association

A December 2025 Minnesota Hospital Association health care workforce study found improvements in the job vacancy rate in hospitals. But there are still unfilled positions on care teams across the state, and an ongoing need to recruit young clinicians as the workforce ages. Minnesota HOSA is in schools across Minnesota, working to do just that.

Host: Tim Nelson

Guests: Summer Hagy, state director of Minnesota HOSA and Lauren Trygstad, Minnesota HOSA director of student leadership and marketing

To help alleviate overburdened emergency departments and ensure that patients are getting care at the right place and right time, HealthPartners has engaged virtualist clinicians - providing second-level triage work for patients calling their CareLine with questions about where and when to seek care.

Host: Tim Nelson, Minnesota Hospital Association

Guest: Dr. Jerome Siy, senior medical director of value-based care with HealthPartners

Amy Klobuchar spent an hour this past weekend explaining what's wrong with healthcare and what she'd do about it as Minnesota's governor. She offered everything from state money to backfill Affordable Care Act enhanced premium subsidies to PBM reform to standardizing health insurance applications. The DFL-endorsed gubernatorial contender responded cooly to a question about her position on a single-payer health care system, saying it just wouldn't be possible while Donald Trump was president. This episode of Hospital Matters has her entire remarks, guests commenting on her proposals and a brief question-and-answer session with reporters at the end. Host: Tim Nelson

Guests: U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar; St. Paul Corner Drug owner John Hoeschen; Winona Health CEO Rachelle Shultz; retired White Bear Lake physician David Thorson; U of M graduate student Joud Haj Sakor

The Ely-Bloomenson Community Hospital is keeping "business as usual," even as some staff have been preparing to evacuate their homes when fires approach. Hospital CEO Patti Banks says the lessons learned during the COVID pandemic have been key to responding to the area's latest emergency.

Host: Tim Nelson, Minnesota Hospital Association

Guest: Patti Banks, Jodi Martin, Ely-Bloomenson Community Hospital

Kirsten Anderson, CEO at AspireMN has been advocating relentlessly to improve the response to rising mental health needs for Minnesota kids, including better reimbursements, new facilities and other developments. But too many of the state's kids are still winding up waiting for comprehensive care in the wrong place: hospital emergency rooms. We talk with Anderson about how we got here and where care needs to go. Host: Tim Nelson, Minnesota Hospital Association

Guest: Kirsten Anderson, AspireMN