Our History
Grounded in community
In 1937, a group of Minnesotans came together to help people pay hospital bills that were hard to afford. Four men – a credit union manager whose health was failing, a cowboy turned postal worker, an idealistic cooperative manager, and a socially-conscious lawyer – set out to form a prepaid health plan. But cooperative, prepaid medicine was illegal in Minnesota at the time. So, over the next 20 years, they worked and changed the laws.
Together, they established Group Health in 1957. It was one of the first consumer-governed, prepaid health plans in the United States. While radical at the time, it helped change American health care for the better.
The Como Clinic opened on Aug. 1, 1957 in St. Paul, Minn. The clinic had several rooms with frugal furnishings – examining tables, desks and chairs. A sympathetic patient bought the clinic an operating lamp. The clinic was sparse, in part, because it lacked funds. Most medical procedures took place in hospitals. Community clinics performed mostly routine exams.
In 1992, Group Health merged with MedCenters Health Plan. Together, they formed HealthPartners. Since then, we’ve combined with notable care organizations. They include Park Nicollet Health System, Regions Hospital, Lakeview Health, and Hudson Hospital & Clinic. In the 2010s, we also expanded our insurance business to new states. You’ll now find us in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, North Dakota and South Dakota.
Timeline
1957
Group Health is founded as one of the first consumer-governed, prepaid health plans in the United States.
1968
First prepaid dental plan in Minnesota launches.
1975
Nurse support by phone gives members night and weekend help.
1980
First clinic in Minnesota for refugees from Southeast Asia is founded – the
1990
1993
Group Health and MedCenters merge to form HealthPartners.
1995
Phone health coaching launches to meet patients where they’re at. Dieticians, pharmacists and health educators coach patients.
1997
HealthPartners teams ups to establish a health cooperative in Uganda.
2005
First Minnesota dental clinic designed for low-income people and new Americans opens.
2006
HealthPartners receives the national Acclaim Award for excellent patient care. It’s awarded by the American Medical Group Association.
2008
The HealthPartners HMO/PPO insurance plan is recognized as a national benchmark. It’s listed in seven areas of a National Business Coalition on Health report.
2009
2010
2011
Lakeview Health in Stillwater, Minn., joins HealthPartners.
2012
2013
Park Nicollet Health Services and HealthPartners combine. Park Nicollet Health Services includes
2014
2015
UnityPoint Health and HealthPartners announce an affiliation agreement.
2017
The HealthPartners Neuroscience Center opens in St. Paul, Minn. HealthPartners named a Top 15 Health System in the U.S. by IBM Watson Health. HealthPartners announces partnership with Bellin Health and ThedaCare to launch Robin with HealthPartners health plan products.
2018
2019
HealthPartners receives the Health Equity Award for increasing access to care and reducing health disparities. It’s awarded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.