2023 ‘Health Care Heroes’ find creative ways to improve care for patients and colleagues

From caring for our patients to caring for each other, our people go above and beyond to provide meaningful innovation in improving the health of our community. This year, Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal recognized four individuals from M Health Fairview as 2023 Health Care Heroes.

The Business Journal launched its Health Care Heroes awards in 2021 to honor the dedication of frontline healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The award continues to recognize healthcare professionals finding innovative and person-centered ways to care for patients, colleagues, and our communities. Our 2023 awardees have thought creatively to improve health and wellbeing within our system – from improving treatment for addiction, diabetes, and sickle cell disease care to engaging a facility dog to support first responders during difficult days on the job.

Honorees are chosen across 10 different categories, ranging from Innovator to Health Care Executive to Health Equity Champion. Our 2023 honorees are:

• Alex Boucher, MD, FAAP, M Health Fairview hematologist and assistant professor with the University of Minnesota Medical School
• Kevin Kane, District Chief, M Health Fairview Emergency Medical Services
• Cuong Pham, MD, M Health Fairview internist and an assistant professor with the University of Minnesota Medical School
• Elizabeth Seaquist, MD, M Health Fairview endocrinologist; professor with the University of Minnesota Medical School; co-director, Institute for Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism

Scroll down to learn more about each winner, their award, and their commitment to providing innovative and comprehensive care for our patients and communities.

Alex Boucher, MD, FAAP

Health Care Hero Category: Physician

Alex Boucher, MD, FAAP, is recognized as a national leader in transitions for young adults with sickle cell disease, a lifelong inherited condition that disproportionately affects African Americans and can cause severe and life-threatening complications. Young adults are at high risk for complications, as they often experience a gap in care between pediatric and adult sickle cell programs. As the lead physician for the M Health Fairview pediatric and adult sickle cell disease programs, Boucher has worked to close the gap in care and has successfully reduced both hospital admission and re-admission rates for our patients living with sickle cell disease.

As a researcher and faculty member at University of Minnesota Medical School, Boucher has also expanded our participation in clinical trials to grow the number of treatment options for sickle cell disease, including gene therapy clinical trials at both M Health Fairview Masonic Children’s Hospital and M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center. He researches existing inequities and biases in clinical care, regardless of disease, including opportunities to have young adults provide feedback on their experience with the goal of improving patient outcomes and quality of care.

Kevin Kane

Health Care Hero Category: First Responder

Kevin Kane has been a first responder with M Health Fairview for over 10 years. When he took over as District Chief, he knew he needed to help his teams face the stress of being on the frontline. He saw the toll the pandemic had taken and knew the impact traumatic calls had on his team’s well-being, something first responders often struggled to talk about. Kane came up with a creative solution to support his team: a facility dog. Kane underwent training to become a facility dog handler and partnered with Can Do Canines to bring the highly skilled yellow Labrador Clayton on board. Clayton now works at our EMS headquarters in St. Paul and Forest Lake as a full-time staff member, providing comfort and support to team members.

When EMS crews return to the station after tough calls, they immediately smile when they’re greeted by Clayton. In addition to supporting and comforting staff, Kane takes Clayton to community events to help make ambulances and medics more approachable. It’s believed that Clayton is the first facility dog in Minnesota to be part of an EMS team.

Cuong Pham, MD

Health Care Hero Category: Physician

Cuong Pham, MD, has dedicated his career to improving the health of marginalized populations. He works with diverse patient populations at both the Community-University Health Care Center and M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center in Minneapolis. Pham is an internal medicine and pediatrics physician who performs research and outreach around addiction medicine, working in close partnership with the community. He helped create and co-directs Project ECHO on Race Equity in Opioid Use, which provides an important opportunity for leaders from the African American, East African, and Indigenous communities to discuss and engage with the local opioid crisis.

Pham also serves as associate vice chair of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Department of Medicine at University of Minnesota Medical School and leads a mentorship program for students who have experienced challenges related to their identity in the classroom or on clinical rounds. Pham is a co-founder and current president of nonprofit Minnesota Doctors for Health Equity, which educates and promotes a commitment to equity among healthcare professionals, including providing knowledge and tools for advocacy.

Elizabeth Seaquist, MD

Health Care Hero Category: Health Care Executive

Elizabeth Seaquist, MD, is the first female head of the Department of Medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School, overseeing over 650 faculty members engaged in both research and clinical care. Seaquist is also an academic clinician, specializing in diabetes care and seeing patients through M Health Fairview. At the university, she is a clinical investigator, taking concerns raised in clinic and designing research around patient needs.

Seaquist has dedicated her career to improving our understanding of and care for diabetes, a disease that affects over 37 million Americans. Among other accomplishments, she has led several groundbreaking clinical trials aimed at improving diabetes treatment. Seaquist also published new guidelines for managing the low blood sugar levels that are commonly seen in people with insulin-treated diabetes through her work with the Endocrine Society. Her work is enabling other physicians to implement the most up-to-date evidence-based practices in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of endocrine-related disorders like diabetes.