Essentia Health Sustainability

Essentia Health is an integrated health system serving patients in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota. Headquartered in Duluth, Essentia Health has over 14,500 employees, 14 hospitals, 69 clinics, 6 long-term care facilities, 3 assisted living facilities, 3 independent living facilities, 5 ambulance services, and one research institute. 

Essentia Health is creating specific goals on sustainability for Vision Northland, Duluth’s downtown medical campus. Drawing from a variety of certification programs, including LEED, WELL, Fitwel, RELi, LBC, SITES and Reset, to create a customized approach, their plan focuses on community, ecology, water, energy, wellness, resources, and resilient design to meet changes in function and environmental conditions. Two goals already met by the design of the new medical facility include 10% better energy efficiency than the national standard and 20% more efficient water use than the LEED V4 baseline.