Health and wellness necessarily imply a proactive approach and not a reactive one.Eager to reflect that focus, Allina Hospitals and Clinics, one of Minnesota’s top health systems, is undergoing a name makeover, reports the Star Tribune. From now on the health system will be known as Allina Health.The name change is part of an overall [...]

Cleveland Clinic is conducting a pilot study of a concussion-diagnosis application created by its researchers for Apple’s iPad 2.The new mobile medical app uses the iPad 2′s built-in accelerometer and gyroscope to measure post-injury changes in an athlete’s balance, which is an indicator of brain function, The Plain Dealer reported.The app works by strapping an [...]

Fund founder Jim O’Reilly says it was “fairly impossible” to raise money. For O’Reilly, explaining Upwind to potential investors proved to be a challenge in itself. For one thing, O’Reilly insisted Upwind was not a “fund” but rather a “new model” for developing startups.

If Allina Hospitals & Clinics ever finds itself at the center of multiple state investigations or lawsuits, or in economic free-fall, the hospital chain now knows where to seek advice.Allina this week named Allianz North America CEO Gary Bhojwani to its board of directors, addingthe crisis-tested executive to its ranks. Allianz North America, based in [...]

St. Paul Heart Clinic, the last large independent cardiologists’ group in the Twin Cities, is figuratively closing its doors with its doctors joining either Allina Hospitals & Clinics or HealthEast Care System. The 36 year-old clinic said Allina and HealthEast will absorb its 35 cardiologists by January.

Has Diabetes Sentry Products Inc.’s time finally come? Or has the start-up already missed the boat?The Orono-based company, a semi-finalist in this year’s Minnesota Cup, hopes to raise $1 million to $1.5 million to develop a portable device that alerts diabetic patients when their blood sugar levels fall dangerously low. But some experts wonder if [...]

Minnesota nurses approved a new three year contract with Twin Cities hospitals, averting a costly strike that could have indefinitely forced thousands of patients to seek care elsewhere.The Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA), which represents about 12,000 nurses throughout the metro area, said members “overwhelmingly” ratified the contract, which grants nurses a three percent pay raise [...]

Twin Cities hospitals late Tuesday offered a revised contract proposal to the nurses union, which promptly rejected it, setting the stage for a protracted strike set for next week.In an e-mail, spokeswoman Maureen Schriner said the hospitals, which include Allina, Children’s Hospital, Park Nicollet, Fairview, North Memorial and HealthEast, offered to drop cuts to the [...]

Second only to nurses claiming they will strike solely to save patients’ lives, the most repeated talking point in the Twin Cities these days is: Hospitals are besieged institutions that are at the mercy of a poor economy and uncertain healthcare reform laws.Well … not exactly.True, hospitals face a great deal of financial pressure that [...]

Donning bright red, union T-shirts and waving “We care for you” signs, 12,000 Minnesota nurses walked off the job Thursday.Unable to reach a contract with six metro hospital chains, the Minnesota Nurses Association launched a 24-hour strike, the largest in the history of the United States.Nurses are seeking a 3 percent annual pay raise and [...]