FOSSTON, Minn. — A new primary care provider in Fosston is already looking to the future, and is asking Fosston residents to imagine what it could look like.
Cheryl White, one of the six founders of the Headwaters Health clinic, asked attendees of a community meeting to imagine the future she and other Headwaters Health members envision for the city of Fosston’s health care. Part of that future includes local leadership and providers, a culture of supportive employees, privacy, obstetrics services, face-to-face check-in and more.
“We do imagine this and we know that all of this cannot happen overnight,” White said. “But, this is our dream. This is our vision for the future of health care in this community. And all of this is possible.”
White and other providers at Headwaters, which opened in the fall, were present during a primary health care community meeting held Thursday, Jan. 22, evening in Fosston. The aim of the meeting was to provide a clear overview of primary health care options available in Fosston and the surrounding area, per a press release from the city. Both Headwaters and Essentia Health were invited, though Essentia declined to participate. The meeting was livestreamed via the city of Fosston’s Facebook page.
The city and Essentia have been in repeated conversations regarding Essentia’s relocation of labor and delivery services from the Essentia Health-Fosston hospital to Essentia Health St. Mary’s-Detroit Lakes. The city regards the change as a violation of a 2009 affiliation agreement between Essentia, the city of Fosston and the owners of the hospital before Essentia – First Care Medical Services. In 2024, an arbitration panel of three judges decided Essentia hadn’t violated the agreement and that the city could not terminate the affiliation agreement.
Fosston has since filed a motion in Polk County District Court to compel Essentia to arbitrate with the goal of terminating the affiliation agreement. A hearing regarding the arbitration was planned for Feb. 5, but has been postponed due to the hearing judge being appointed to the Minnesota Court of Appeals.
Mike Curtis, administrator at Essentia Health-Fosston, sent a statement that was read at the community meeting. In it, he said Essentia cannot responsibly attend the event due to the arbitration.
“Health care is under immense pressure, especially in rural communities,” he said. “We are happy to engage in solution-focused discussion with community partners that will help us all address these challenges and improve care for our patients. However, this is not the appropriate time to do that.”
Fosston Mayor Jim Offerdahl said the new arbitration will involve new issues separate from what was discussed in the 2024 arbitration.
“The city’s goal in the arbitration is to restore local governance of health care in Fosston to ensure the best possible access to excellent health care services for the community and to address any of the issues we’ll be discussing today,” he said.
White gave a presentation to attendees about Headwaters and the services available, which include pediatric and geriatric care, physical therapy, laboratory services and more. White said the clinic has already outgrown its small space and is planning a clinic expansion.
“We are incredibly grateful for all your patience and your grace as we grow, and we’re deeply thankful for your support that has made this growth possible,” she said. “We knew our space was going to be small and I think it got a lot smaller a lot faster than any of us anticipated.”
During her presentation, White dispelled some misinformation about Headwaters — myths included a doctor retiring and the clinic not taking insurance — and answered audience questions about services and electronic medical records.
Headwaters was formed to protect rural health care, White said. Members of Headwaters saw their vision for patient care for the community didn’t align with the places they came from.
“Decisions were made far away from here by people who don’t live here and don’t know this community and people who did not share the values of this community. Today that is no longer our reality,” White said. “We look to our future with clarity, because we have seen what happens when we have no hope. Now we have control. We have control over our essential services, how we allocate our resources and, most importantly, how we care for this community.”
White also clarified that the opening of Headwaters was not a part of the ongoing dispute between Essentia and Fosston, but overlapped with it.
Otto is the University of North Dakota reporter for the Grand Forks Herald.
