Clinic & Specialty Center

Black Women with Stethoscopes Youth Summits inspire youth and make us hopeful for the future of healthcare

May 25, 2022

Over 150 young women ages 12-18 years old recently visited our campus to learn about healthcare careers during our Black Women with Stethoscopes Youth Summits on April 30 and May 15. Youth learned that not only are these careers within reach, but that they can play a critical role in delivering culturally-centered care and help decrease health disparities. Black Women with Stethoscopes is the second series of youth summits from our Talent Garden program, which connects youth of color to opportunities in medicine and healthcare. (more…)

Healthcare that gives adolescents and young adults a voice

December 21, 2021

Adolescence is an important time of development. Young people are developing physically, emotionally, and socially. Their brains are developing rapidly. While early childhood involves rapid brain growth, adolescent brain development is focused on a process called “pruning,” in which the existing neural pathways are refined and trimmed over time, especially in the main decision-making areas of the brain. This process goes on well into a person’s twenties. As a result, in adolescence, many neurons, including those in the reward pathways, are firing rapidly. This creates an environment for rapid socioemotional development, learning and sometimes behaviors that involve risk-taking and high rewards. The adolescent years is a period of opportunity and vulnerability for health and development. (more…)

Exciting news and milestone: COVID vaccines available for children ages 5–11 years

November 10, 2021

Recently, the Federal Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control approved and recommended the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children 5-11 years, taking us one step closer to controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. Too many children have been infected with COVID-19 and serious cases can occur even in healthy children. Cases have increased dramatically since the arrival of the Delta variant. Nationally, over 1.9 million 5-11 year-olds have been infected and more than 8,300 hospitalized with COVID-19. Some children can also have long-term health effects, and COVID-19 is now a leading cause of death for this age group. (more…)

East Lake Clinic opened October 4, joining many clinic October birthdays

October 25, 2021

After the devastating destruction of the original East Lake Clinic last summer, we welcome the new re-opened clinic located in the Hennepin County Service Center on East Lake Street. The new clinic is beautiful with stunning views of downtown Minneapolis and the East Lake neighborhood, lovely colors, and lots of natural light. Clinic staff are excited to re-welcome their patients to the new location, even though they were temporarily seeing them at the Whittier Clinic. (more…)

50 years later and 14 midwives strong, our first-of-its-kind Nurse Midwife Service continues to empower expectant mothers

September 14, 20212

In the late 60’s, Dr. Donald Freeman, Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology at then Minneapolis General Hospital, and a nurse named Margaret Hewitt conducted forums asking women what they wanted their birth experience to look like.

In 1971, Margaret used what she learned at these forums and her knowledge as a Certified Nurse Midwife to develop the first hospital nurse midwife practice in Minnesota at HCMC. This new and innovative model directly involved women in decisions about their care and birth experience and was remarkably successful.

Now 50 years later and 14 midwives strong, our Hennepin Healthcare nurse midwives continue to nurture the philosophy of care that Margaret instilled, ensuring all expectant mothers have the right to care that meets their spiritual and cultural beliefs, values and traditions. Join us in celebrating 50 years of caring for women and welcoming babies on Saturday, September 25 from 1-4 pm in the Blue Building Courtyard. There you can connect with our team and enjoy photos and memorabilia from the past five decades.

Read on to learn more about the history of our Nurse Midwife Service and the important milestones we’ve made along the way. (more…)

Parents, let’s unite and talk to our kids about bullying

October 20, 20201

It can be easy to think that bullying is an issue of the past. In many ways kids are much more accepting these days than in previous generations. Unfortunately however, one in five kids is the victim of bullying. October is National Bullying Prevention Month, and I want to encourage you to talk with your kids about this important issue. (more…)

See snapshots spanning 14 decades of care at Hennepin Healthcare

January 17, 2020

With the start of a new year (and decade!), it’s easy to forget how far Hennepin Healthcare has come since first opening its doors over 130 years ago, then named Minneapolis City Hospital. With that in mind, we put together a timeline to showcase some of the accomplishments, historical events, firsts and changes spanning across the last 14 decades that brought us to where we are today.

Although we couldn’t possibly cover all of the hundreds, if not thousands, of important moments in the history of Hennepin Healthcare, here are a selection of some of the highlights from the past few decades. (more…)

1 in 10 Women: Endometriosis

December 13, 2019

If you have actually heard about endometriosis then you are already more informed than most about this devastating condition that effects roughly 10% of reproductive age females. This means approximately 200 hundred million women’s lives around the world are impacted by this potentially disabling condition. According to the Endometriosis Foundation of America, “Endometriosis occurs when tissue similar to the lining of the uterus (the endometrium) migrates outside of the womb, where tissue should not be.” This results in inflammation, which produces pain and sometimes infertility.

I want to focus more on what endometriosis is not, as opposed to what it is. This approach brings about a more interesting discussion by revealing the immense opportunity we have as health practitioners (and as a society) to intervene early, potentially effecting the trajectory of a young person’s life. (more…)