Healthcare : Featured Stories

Youth programs with a focus on urban agriculture cultivate good health, leadership skills, community development and economic independence.

The 2014 Minnesota Healthy Communities Conference introduced participants to innovative community health projects that explore links between community development and the health of low-income people.

Driven by the seemingly boundless energy of local creatives, community leaders and entrepreneurs, Minneapolis-St. Paul’s burgeoning startup culture shows no signs of slowing down. Here are 10 compelling, life-changing startups to know about now.  

How key non-profits have forged partnerships with healthcare institutions along the Green Line to generate corridors of opportunity for job seekers, residents, and communities.

Heather and John McDougall, who are siblings, have designed the bamboo Bogobrush, a "buy one, give one" product that provides toothbrushes to people in need.

A husband-wife team (he's a techie, she's a psychiatrist) are developing fun-to-play (but scientifically sound) game-style apps that can help diagnose ADHD and other psychiatric problems in kids.

It's been an article of faith since Central Corridor light rail (Green Line) construction began that, despite all the disruption and traffic chaos of the building stage, the line would eventually become a magnet for local entrepreneurs. That scenario appears to be playing out; here are three entrepreneurial ventures that were lured to the line by light rail's promise.

The nonprofit Springboard for the Arts used to concentrate solely on career development for artists. Now, under the leadership of Laura Zabel, it's become a powerful force in redefining the whole relationship between artists and the communities they live in--and in marshaling artistic creativity to improve those communities.

With 150,000 immigrants and refugees from Africa living within its borders, Minnesota's ties to the continent are growing. Some nonprofits here are leading the way toward a new model for helping Africa develop, replacing the top-down aid mentality with models of mutuality, transparency, and--most of all--face-to-face friendship.

The largest hospital-connected integrative-medicine clinic in the United States is in Minneapolis. The Penny George Institute, run by Courtney Baechler, MD, adds aromatherapy, acupuncture, and other once-fringe healing arts to hospital patients' treatments--and the results are earning respect in the medical mainstream.

When her husband left her, her innovative postnatal-care company, her finances, and her hope for the future hit the skids. But then, with courage, savvy, and some high-powered help, she came back, big time.

For many observers, our high-tech sector is in crisis. There aren't enough angel investors and we've lost our edge. Dan Grigsby, one of the most successful software entrepreneurs in Minnesota, doesn't buy it. In a conversation with The Line, he explains why we don't need to be Silicon Prairie, create the next Facebook, or even worry about venture capital.