Essentia Health Joins the Cardiometabolic Center Alliance as a Charter Member

The Cardiometabolic Center Alliance (CMCA), founded by Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute, is honored to announce the addition of Essentia Health as a Charter Member.

As a coalition that seeks to establish Cardiometabolic Centers of Excellence nationwide aimed at transforming the treatment of type 2 diabetes (T2D), and related cardiovascular (CV) and renal comorbidities, the CMCA considers Essentia Health—an integrated health system spanning the upper Midwest—a key member of the Alliance. Essentia Health will house their program in Duluth and Fargo cardiology practices.

“We’re thrilled to join the Cardiometabolic Center Alliance, a nationwide initiative designed to improve care and outcomes for patients with cardiometabolic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and elevated cholesterol,” said Dr. Natalia Rocha, a physician championing Essentia’s program. “In our cardiometabolic clinic, we will tailor a personalized, multidisciplinary plan of care following up to date guidelines to ensure risk factors for heart disease are well controlled.”

“The inclusion of Essentia Health as a member of the CMCA speaks to the mission of the Alliance which is to transform the quality of care delivered to those living with cardiometabolic disease,” said Mikhail Kosiborod, MD, Executive Director of the CMCA. “Essentia’s geographic reach ensures that team-based, coordinated care is delivered to those in need—regardless of where they live. We look forward to our collaboration with Essentia as we work together to improve outcomes for our patients.”

Dr. Catherine Benziger, another cardiologist leading Essentia’s center, added, “We are excited to join the Alliance because we believe it will help us deliver the very best care to patients. High-risk patients, including those with strong family history of heart problems, obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, and prior heart disease, can get comprehensive care in the new cardiometabolic clinic. Our goal is to help individuals live a more heart-healthy life free of heart disease by losing weight, getting their LDL cholesterol and hemoglobin A1c under control, and overall feeling better.”

About the Cardiometabolic Center Alliance

The Cardiometabolic Center Alliance is a national collaborative of healthcare organizations committed to the mission of improving the quality of care and outcomes in patients with cardiometabolic disease. Across its aligned member sites, care is delivered via a standardized, patient-centered, team-based, comprehensive risk-reduction approach based on a novel care model designed and successfully implemented by Saint Luke’s Michael & Marlys Haverty Cardiometabolic Center of Excellence in Kansas City, Missouri.

About Essentia Health

Essentia Health is an integrated health system serving patients in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota. Headquartered in Duluth, Minnesota, Essentia Health combines the strengths and talents of more than 14,000 employees, including more than 2,100 physicians and advanced practitioners, who serve our patients and communities through the mission of being called to make a healthy difference in people’s lives. Essentia Health, which includes many Catholic facilities, is guided by the values of Quality, Hospitality, Respect, Joy, Justice, Stewardship and Teamwork. The organization lives out its mission by having a patient-centered focus at 14 hospitals, 71 clinics, six long-term care facilities, three assisted living facilities, three independent living facilities, six ambulance services and one research institute. Essentia Health is accredited as an Accountable Care Organization by the National Committee for Quality Assurance.