HealthPartners and Essentia Health to Merge, Forming Largest Regional Healthcare System

Key points

• The merger between Bloomington-based HealthPartners and Duluth-based Essentia Health was approved by both boards on Tuesday, September 29, 2026.
• The combined entity, retaining the HealthPartners name, will operate 22 hospitals, over 135 clinics, and employ approximately 45,000 staff across Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota.
• HealthPartners CEO Andrea Walsh will lead the new organization, while Essentia CEO Dr. David Herman will serve as president of combined clinical care group operations.
• The merger is expected to be finalized by January 1, 2027, pending regulatory approval, with no immediate plans to close facilities or interrupt patient care.
• This is the third major healthcare consolidation in Minnesota in 2026, following the Sanford Health-North Memorial merger and the pending Allina Health-Sutter Health deal.

Background

This development follows a trend of healthcare consolidation in the region. In 2025, Essentia Health was part of a proposed alliance with Fairview Health Services and the University of Minnesota, which did not proceed. Additionally, Essentia had explored a merger with Wisconsin’s Marshfield Clinic Health System in 2022, which ended before Marshfield merged with Sanford Health. The current merger is part of a broader national trend where health systems combine to navigate rising costs and workforce challenges.

How outlets are covering it

While HealthPartners and Essentia leadership emphasize the merger as a strategic move to improve affordability, access, and innovation through complementary strengths, labor unions express significant concern. The Minnesota Nurses Association and other unions, including AFSCME and SEIU, argue that consolidation concentrates control over healthcare in fewer hands, potentially harming patient choice and workforce stability. They note that employees had no advance notice of the merger. Attorney General Keith Ellison has stated his office will conduct a thorough review to ensure the merger complies with state law and serves the public interest, inviting public comments. CBS News highlights the merger as part of a 'spate' of industry mergers, while InForum notes the specific concern that HealthPartners operates as both a provider and an insurer, raising questions about network control and costs.

Why it matters

The merger will significantly reshape the healthcare landscape in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest, potentially affecting insurance coverage, access to specialists, and workforce dynamics for hundreds of thousands of patients and employees. It also highlights the ongoing tension between healthcare consolidation for efficiency and the concerns of patients and workers over cost, access, and accountability.

What to watch

The merger is subject to regulatory review by the Minnesota Attorney General's office, which is gathering public comments. If approved, the merger is expected to be completed by January 1, 2027. Essentia Health facilities will retain their branding initially, with a transition to the HealthPartners name planned for a later date. The pending Allina Health-Sutter Health merger also remains under regulatory review.