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Three of the top executives at Essentia Health have left the health system.

Jeff Korsmo, Tracy Miland and Bob Brigham "are no longer with Essentia Health, effective immediately," spokeswoman Maureen Talarico confirmed in an email. "We thank them for their service to Essentia Health and wish them the best as they move on to pursue other opportunities."


She could not provide details because their departure was a personnel matter, Talarico wrote.

None of the three had been with Essentia for as long as two years, and Miland and Brigham had been part of the health system for only a matter of months. Their departure comes at a time when Essentia is envisioning a major modernization of its Duluth campus.

Korsmo was the hospital's operations and administration senior leader. He came to Essentia in August 2016 from Kansas-based Via Christi Health, where he had served as president and CEO. He previously had worked as executive director of the Mayo Clinic Health Policy Center, where he got to know Dr. David C. Herman, now the CEO of Essentia.

"During that time, I developed great respect for his ability to inspire and lead change," Herman said of Korsmo at the time he was hired at Essentia. "He is someone who always puts patients first, and we are very fortunate to have him join our team."

Miland was the health system's senior strategy leader. She came to Essentia last September from HealthEast Care System in St. Paul, where she served as vice president of strategy, customer experience and marketing.

Korsmo and Miland played key roles in planning the health system's future, appearing alongside Herman in December to announce preliminary plans for a multimillion-dollar investment in the downtown Duluth campus.

Brigham was Essentia-East Market operations leader. Essentia's East region includes Duluth, Northeastern Minnesota and Northwestern Wisconsin. He also started with Essentia in September. He most recently had served as senior vice president for hospitals and clinics at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and before that spent 36 years at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester and in Jacksonville, Fla.

Duluth-based Essentia Health has 15 hospitals and 75 clinics in Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota and Idaho. It has 14,700 employees, including more than 1,900 physicians and advanced practitioners.

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Jeff Korsmo, Tracy Miland and Bob Brigham "are no longer with Essentia Health, effective immediately," spokeswoman Maureen Talarico confirmed in an email. "We thank them for their service to Essentia Health and wish them the best as they move on to pursue other opportunities."


Buildings of the Essentia Health campus in Duluth's Central Hillside.

Three key Essentia executives leave staff

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