Health Equity Division Announcement

New Report Highlights 10 Years of Health Equity Progress in Minnesota

Advancing health equity at MDH: 2014-2024

The Health Equity Strategy and Innovation Division is excited to share a new report titled, “Advancing Health Equity at the Minnesota Department of Health: 2014-2024.” The report provides an assessment of the department’s progress on recommendations included in the pivotal “Advancing Health Equity in Minnesota: Report to the Legislature,” released in 2014. The new report finds that the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has made significant progress on health equity initiatives over the last decade.

The report is based on an analysis of MDH work from 2014-2024, as well as surveys and conversations with MDH staff and community members. It concludes that the agency made significant progress on all seven of the original report’s recommendations, while highlighting areas where more work is needed to ensure all Minnesotans have opportunities to be healthy. The report also identifies enduring challenges and areas for improvement. Ongoing action steps identified in the report include leading with authentic community engagement, improved data sharing with partners while maintaining individual privacy, confronting emerging threats and establishing clear metrics to advance health equity goals and reduce disparities across Minnesota.

“Achieving health equity takes all of us – our communities, systems, and institutions working together to create the conditions where every person has a real opportunity to be well,” said Health Equity Strategy and Innovation Division Director Odi Akosionu-DeSouza. “Our work is about ensuring every Minnesotan, and every community, can thrive not just today, but for generations to come.”

MDH looks forward to continuing to work closely with our partners across the state to move this important work forward.

About us

The Center for Health Equity, which was created in 2013 to advance health equity, has grown dramatically in recent years. Recognizing this growth and the center’s role in providing support and technical assistance across the agency, the executive office elevated the Center for Health Equity to a division at the Department of Health. With this structural change, we are now the Division of Health Equity Strategy and Innovation.

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