In the News

“It’s been used in other parts of the world to some great effect,” said Hennepin Healthcare Director of Addiction Medicine Dr. Gavin Bart, who has toured facilities in Zurich and Vancouver. “No one should think of these like bars. This is not going to a bar and having recreation and listening to music and entertainment with your friends. This is really much more of a health facility, social service.”

“If we live in fear of what may happen, then we’re already telling the groups that are constantly dealing with issues that the worry of someone who may be offended is more important than my personal safety, well-being and mental health,” Chief Equity Officer Nneka Sederstrom told a crowd during a presentation of the program in February.

“We’re teaching the providers of tomorrow,” Vice President of Health Equity Talee Vang said.  “And because of that, we have this unique position to make a real change, and to make a really, really bold statement.”

“Things you might start to notice are just feeling exhausted and feeling like you can’t go on outside — that is a sign of heat exhaustion and definitely a sign that you should get inside,” Hennepin Healthcare emergency physician Dr. Andie Rowland-Fisher said.

Organizers say a few people needed medical attention. Others checked in just to cool off a bit. Dr. Andie Rowland-Fisher, an emergency physician at Hennepin Healthcare, says that’s the right thing to do if you’re feeling faint, or just too hot.

Recent studies report that two-thirds of American physicians report feeling burned out, something only aggravated by the pandemic. Dr. Mark Linzer, an internal medicine physician at Hennepin Healthcare, is a nationally recognized expert who has studied the causes and effects of provider burnout. 

“We’re getting a lot more triage calls — a lot more messages to call patients back. Sometimes I’m not able to get the call because I’m already on the phone call with another triage patient,” said Erik Lee, RN with Hennepin Healthcare’s pulmonary clinic.

“The average clinician caring for critically ill or injured adults in the U.S. probably performs intubation with the frequency and experience represented in this trial,” Matthew E. Prekker, MD, MPH, associate professor of emergency medicine and internal medicine at Hennepin County Medical Center, told Healio.

Dr. Mark Linzer, an internal medicine physician with Hennepin Healthcare who is the director of its Institute for Professional Worklife, started studying burnout among medical professionals in 1990. More than three decades later, he doesn’t see much improving.

At Hennepin, the idea was hatched about a year ago during a meeting with addiction specialists, when one specialist mentioned how helpful it would be to see patients within 30 minutes of receiving naloxone. Ryan Mayfield, Nick Simpson, MD, Aaron Robinson, MD and Marty Scheerer interviewed.

“One of the biggest changes is offering Suboxone to patients who are experiencing acute naloxone-induced opioid withdrawal,” said Dr. Nicholas Simpson, who is an emergency and Hennepin EMS physician at Hennepin Healthcare. 

“Some people don’t realize what’s happening to them,” Hennepin Healthcare forensic nurse examiner Breanna Heisterkamp said, “and how close they are potentially to death.”

Dr. Nick Simpson scans a 911 call log from his office at Hennepin County Medical Center in downtown Minneapolis. Poring over the data, he finds what he’s looking for, and punches in a phone number. After two rings, someone picks up.

“Hi, this is Dr. Simpson from Hennepin EMS,” he says. “Did you call 911?”

Dr. David Darrow is the principal investigator for Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute’s E-STAND clinical trial.

“Over time what we have found is sure enough in 20 out of 20 patients we see significant effects across the board,” Dr. Darrow explains.

While results have varied among about 20 trial participants, the takeaway so far is that people can regain function after spinal cord injuries and not merely maintain whatever limited mobility they have, said Dr. David Darrow, the lead investigator.

Dr. Stacene Maroushek is a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Hennepin Healthcare. She says pediatricians are seeing a lot of viruses right now and viral infections can often cause an ear infection in young kids.

On Lake Minnetonka in the west metro, this year will be the first with two major changes that first responders with Hennepin Healthcare say are targeted at keeping people safe – all while improving response times.

“I think the water rescue team being with the paramedics on the boat is going to make a really, really big difference,” said Hennepin EMS Chief Marty Scheerer. “Now, we’ll be right on scene. We’ll have a really quick response. We’ll have our defibrillator there, we’ll have our airway equipment, we’ll have all of our equipment there. It’s going to be fun.”

Though medical schools and residency training programs are actively recruiting medical students from underrepresented minorities, acceptance on to these programs is just the beginning. To talk about the challenges minority physicians face throughout their training and the structural changes that might be needed to address these, we caught up with Dr Frank Clark and Dr Dionne Hart at the 2023 Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association.

“We have a massive amount of educators and thought, Beyond an educational experience, we have to provide real-time bedside interventions, so we created a DEI clinician role, where mental health–trained, PhD-level professionals are positioned to help ‘in the moment’ discussions around racism,” said Dr. Nneka Sederstrom.

For emergency medical responders, seconds count in saving lives.

“It’s really about accessibility,” says Nicholas Simpson, the Chief Medical Director with Hennepin EMS. “Because nobody plans to have an emergency.”

Snoring or worse often leads couples to visit Dr. Ranji Varghese. He’s the director of the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorder Center at Hennepin Healthcare.

“People like to call me a marriage counselor because sometimes when I fix one person’s sleep, the relationship gets a whole lot better,” Dr. Varghese joked.