Dr. Emily Chapman started her care careeer as a child life specialist and went to medical school to pursue her passion for pediatric care. Now she's the new CEO of one of the nation's premiere children's care providers, Children's Minnesota. She talks about her new job, how she got there, and what she's focused on in this episode of Hospital Matters.

Host: Tim Nelson, Minnesota Hospital Association

Guest: Dr. Emily Chapman, Children's Minnesota

Congress is heading for a potential budget showdown, after a tumultous year of historic financial drama in Washington. Some officials are calling for more cuts, but others for less -- all while care providers are hoping for some clarity on key health policy. We're catching up with Becky Wifstrand, the Minnesota Hospital Association's Director of Federal Policy and Regulatory Affairs.

Host: Tim Nelson, Minnesota Hospital Association

Guest: Becky Wifstrand, Minnesota Hospital Association

Essentia Health's online resource guide has now generated more than 25,000 referrals connecting patients with housing, food, transportation, and other local community services. In this episode, MHA's Tim Nelson talks with Community Outreach Manager Jill Doberstein about how the tool is supporting patients across Minnesota.

Host: Tim Nelson, Minnesota Hospital Association

Guest: Jill Doberstein, Essentia Health

Fairview Health Services recently earned the Foster G. McGaw Prize for its work to address social determinants of health and meet community needs. In this episode, we talked with Diane Tran, System Executive Director of Community Health Equity and Engagement at M Health Fairview, about what this honor means and the years of work that led to it.

Host: Tim Nelson, Minnesota Hospital Association

Guest: Diane Tran, M Health Fairview

CentraCare and the University of Minnesota Medical School are making history this week: a new medical school campus is opening in St. Cloud. We talked to CentraCare senior vice president Mike Blair as preparations for the new school were wrapping up this summer, and as the first 24 student cohort was heading for campus.

Host: Tim Nelson, Minnesota Hospital Association

Guest: Mike Blair, CentraCare

This week, Hospital Matters is digging into the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and specifically, the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program. Becky Wifstrand, director of federal policy and regulatory affairs for the Minnesota Hospital Assocation, talks about the upcoming deadline for state applications, some of the eligible expenditures of that money and other topics. This is the first of an occasional series addressing this generational legislation and how it will impact health care.

Host: Tim Nelson, Minnesota Hospital Association

Guest: Becky Wifstrand, Minnesota Hospital Association

Meet Dr. Edmond Irankunda. Born in Rwanda, his family fled the civil war and genocide in the 1990s and eventually made their way to the United States. He's settling into a new job at RiverView Health in Crookston -- and says he's feeling remarkably at home providing health care in the Red River Valley. Minnesota will need more of providers like him as more and more physicians are looking to retirement.

Host: Tim Nelson, Minnesota Hospital Association

Guest: Edmond Irankunda, RiverView Health

In this episode of Hospital Matters, Essentia Health CEO Dr. David Herman says rural health care has been increasingly struggling, and that the future is getting even more uncertain in the wake of changes to Medicaid and other developments in Washington.

Host: Tim Nelson, Minnesota Hospital Association

Guest: Dr. David Herman, Essentia Health

The Minnesota Legislature pledged $75 million to upgrading mental health care this year, most of it going to replacing and expanding a major inpatient care facility at the Anoka Metro Regional Treatment Center. In this episode, we talk to Sue Abderholden, the executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Minnesota, about what it will mean for patients, as well as the concerns she has that Medicaid cuts may thwart some of that progress.

Host: Tim Nelson, Minnesota Hospital Association

Guest: Sue Abderholden, NAMI Minnesota

Communities rely on providers like the Sanford Bemidji Medical Center for top-flight health care. But hospitals rely on their communities as well -- and a blast of hurricane-force winds in June showed just how ready people in the region were to come to the aid of the Bemidji Hospital. In this episode, Sanford Bemidji Medical Center CEO Karla Eischens talks about the support she and her staff got when lights went out and the trees came down.

Host: Tim Nelson, Minnesota Hospital Association

Guest: Karla Eischens, Sanford Bemidji Medical Center