It’s been just over nine months since I started as the director of Hennepin County Public Health. In my time here, I have been impressed with the staff, and the many important programs and services we provide to the community in Hennepin County and regionally.
In 2020, Hennepin County recognized racism as a public health crisis. This commitment — along with the county’s longstanding focus on disparity reduction — supports Hennepin County Public Health’s top priority of advancing race and health equity. Our department strives to lead with race and has embedded an equity lens in our day-to-day operations, our programs, and in how we engage with community.
In this report, we share examples that illustrate this work in action, shining a light on priorities including our focus on prevention, our efforts to rebuild post-pandemic, and our commitment to building upon community-driven solutions.
Hennepin County Public Health is committed to transforming how we share power and decision making with community on public health issues. We will continue to center community engagement and lean into supporting community-driven solutions. This is a core strategy for advancing racial and health equity.
The stories included in this 2024 highlight are not comprehensive of our work, but I hope they provide a glimpse into why I am so proud to lead this department and excited about our work in 2025.
Thank you for making time to read Hennepin County Public Health’s 2024 highlights!
Sara Hollie, MPH
Hennepin County Public Health Director
Measles outbreak and response
Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD)
Endeavors Respite program
LGBTQ+ forum
Collaboration with Minneapolis Public Schools’ Early Childhood Family Education program
New initiative supports Black and Indigenous women’s heart health
By the numbers
Thank you for making time to read Hennepin County Public Health’s 2024 highlights.
Hennepin County Public Health responded to a measles outbreak from May through November 2024. During this outbreak 45 of 52 total cases of measles occurred among residents of Hennepin County. Most of the cases statewide (28 cases) occurred among children 5 years old and younger.
Measles is a serious and highly contagious disease. Immunization with the MMR vaccine is best way to prevent measles. State and countywide MMR vaccination rates fell significantly during the pandemic, setting the stage for a local outbreak.
Our epidemiology team provided case follow up and monitoring. Case follow up means interviewing someone who has been diagnosed with measles (usually lab confirmed). These interviews are critical to ending outbreaks. Our epidemiologists determined when someone was infectious and documented the places they visited during that time to figure out who else might have been exposed.
The team also did extensive case contact investigation. This involves talking with people who were exposed to measles, or in the case of this outbreak, talking with the parents of children who were likely exposed. During these conversations the epidemiologist works to understand if the child is immune to measles by looking at their vaccine records. The conversation also may include giving parents advice on symptoms to watch for and instructing them to keep their child at home — “in exclusion” — for 21 days.
“Contact investigation work is crucial for ending a measles outbreak. All non-immune contacts need to stay home from school, childcare, work, activities, and other community settings to prevent spread. Since you are contagious 4 days before a rash appears, it’s imperative to stay home to prevent inadvertent spread,” said Erica Bagstad, epidemiology supervisor.
During this outbreak, Hennepin County epidemiologists spent an estimated 500 hours following up with 35 cases, completing 441 case contacts and investigations.
Other vital response services provided by our staff included:
Providing post-exposure prophylaxis – this may include giving a dose of the MMR vaccine or administering IG (immunoglobulin) to eligible people to prevent illness after exposure.
Holding free childhood vaccination clinics, doing community outreach and engagement, and raising public awareness about the outbreak and the MMR vaccine.
Raising awareness that measles was in our community through health education and a paid ad campaign to promote childhood vaccine clinics. Learn more about measles and the MMR vaccine: Measles – Minnesota Department of Health
Learn more about Hennepin County’s efforts to increase access to childhood immunizations: Healthy You Healthy Hennepin
Learn more about measles: Measles - Minnesota Department of Health
In August 2023, Red Door began offering Suboxone, a medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD), as part of its harm reduction and syringe services program. MOUD is an evidence-based treatment approach that helps people stop or reduce their opioid use and prevent overdoses.
The MOUD team consists of two nurse practitioners and one registered nurse. But they don’t work alone – their growing client list has been in large part because of the relationships built by the harm reduction staff. So far, the team has started 99 patients on MOUD and completed 474 follow-up visits.
Learn more about MOUD in an upcoming article in 2025.
Facing serious illness or injury can be hard in any circumstance. When someone is facing homelessness, however, getting the care needed to recover can be even more challenging.
The Endeavors respite care program is a short-term service for patients experiencing homelessness who are too sick to be in a shelter or on the street, but not sick enough to be in the hospital.
The program is a partnership between Hennepin County Public Health, Catholic Charities, and other entities. Staff can support up to 30 patients at a time. Since beginning in 2022, Endeavors respite staff have provided care for an average of 100 people a year. The average length of stay is about 70 days.
Endeavors respite care is part of a larger program providing care to people experiencing homelessness. It includes clinics in shelters for people experiencing homelessness as well as the Health Care for the Homeless program.
“Our goal is to be low barrier, to be equitable, and to create access to quality health care,” said Morgan Smith, manager of the Health Care for the Homeless program.
Hennepin County Public Health staff presented on the health of LGBTQ+ residents from two important data sources – SHAPE 2022 and the Minnesota Student Survey – at a first-of-its-kind event on April 30, 2024.
Komal Mehrotra, manager of Hennepin County Public Health’s health evaluation assessment team, opened her presentation with a brief overview of the Survey of the Health of All Populations and the Environment, or SHAPE survey. Mehrotra showed how sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) questions have changed over time to better reflect residents’ identities.
Mei Ding, principal planning analyst for the health and evaluation assessment team, then highlighted a few health domains from their data assessment:
Mental health and well-being
Access to health care
Substance use
Neighborhood and social factors
Generally, the data showed that LGBTQ+ residents have poorer health outcomes compared to non-LGBTQ+ residents.
Ding also presented findings for residents who are LGBTQ+ and Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC). In some health domains, LGBTQ+ residents who are also BIPOC have worse health outcomes than white LGBTQ+ residents.
Next, Aurin Roy, senior planning analyst for HIV health disparities reduction, presented findings from the Minnesota Student Survey. More than 26,000 students in grades 5-11 completed the survey. The questions ask about health domains such as mental health, substance use, and safety. Overall, LGBTQ+ youth experience negative health indicators at a higher rate than non-LGBTQ+ students.
The next Minnesota Student Survey will be conducted in 2025 and the next SHAPE survey in 2026. To continue to improve our efforts to collect accurate data, better understand the state of health for LGBTQ+ residents, and inform programming that improves health equity our department plans to ask community for guidance in improving SOGI questions.
Hennepin County is home to many immigrants and refugees. A large number of newer residents include people and families from East Africa. To help these residents feel supported as their families grow, many organizations work in different ways to meet their needs. Sofia Kelil, a public health nurse with Healthy Families America, one of Hennepin County’s family home visiting programs, and Atalelech Worku, a parent educator through Minneapolis Public Schools, both provide services they wish they’d had when they were new to this country.
Kelil and Worku are both from Ethiopia and speak Amharic, Oromo and English. The two sometimes have the same clients and work together to provide consistent information for the families they serve.
Kelil works with clients in their homes doing health assessments, teaching parenting classes, and helping them during the first few years of their child’s life. Worku works with parents and children mainly in a classroom setting where families can also meet one another, build community, and learn together in their native language.
The partnership between Hennepin County Family Home visiting and Minneapolis Early Childhood Family Education has been beneficial. Both programs reinforce the topics discussed at home visits and in the classes.
For example, Kelil and Worku educate new parents about screentime use and appropriate discipline strategies. It’s helpful for the participants, who receive consistent information across different programs they are involved in. Worku said that participants will say, “Sofia said to read a book!” or “Atale said to read a book!”
Worku and Kelil talk frequently to one another about each of their programming. With this partnership and success, the classes have grown.
Hennepin County is partnering with multiple community organizations to improve heart health among Black and Indigenous women.
Heart disease is a leading cause of death among Hennepin County residents, and Black and Indigenous women are disproportionately affected. Hennepin County’s Board of Commissioners approved $1 million for 2024 to support vascular and diabetes health among Hennepin County residents.
Hennepin County Public Health is partnering with clinics and community-based programs to support prevention efforts and provide better care for women — especially U.S.-born Black and Indigenous women — who’ve experienced serious heart health issues, such as heart attacks, strokes, or congestive heart failure. A campaign created in partnership with local ad agencies and local women launched in February 2025.
Hennepin County Public Health brought together community-based organizations and partners for updates on the work on November 4, 2024. The event featured an early look at a heart health awareness campaign for Black and Indigenous women. The event featured District 4 Commissioner Angela Conley, who shared her story of surviving a heart attack and how it prompted her to encourage colleagues on the board to support the initiative.
“This is just the start of a long initiative” to improve Black and Indigenous women’s heart health, said Sara Hollie, director of Hennepin County Public Health.
These efforts will continue in 2025. Learn more at Hennepin.us/heart-beats.
Race/ethnicity
Hispanic/Latino — 7.9%
American Indian/Alaska Native — 0.6%
Asian — 7.1%
Black/African American — 13.7%
White — 66.4%
Two or more races — 8.8%
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander — 0.0%
Other — 3.3%
Educational attainment
High school graduate or higher — 94.9%
Bachelor’s degree or higher — 55.2%
Income
Median household income — $93,668
Residents below 100% of the federal poverty line — 10.1%
Language
Population
