News Summary

• Daniel Zismer, Ph.D., has been named director of the master of healthcare administration and executive studies programs at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.
• Zismer holds the rank of associate professor and brings more than 25 years of experience on the provider side of health care delivery.
• The 54-year-old program is ranked number two in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Organizations led by four alumni of the program have earned the Baldridge National Quality Award in the past several years.

Full Text

MINNEAPOLIS/ST.PAUL (February 2, 2010) - Daniel Zismer, Ph.D., has been named director of the master of healthcare administration and executive studies programs at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.  The 54-year-old program is ranked number two in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Organizations led by four alumni of the program have earned the Baldridge National Quality Award in the past several years.

The program includes the Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA) degree, which can be completed in a traditional, on-campus format or via the newly launched Executive MHA program, in which the curriculum is delivered predominantly in an interactive online format.  In addition to the MHA degree, the program includes two post-baccalaureate certificates in executive healthcare studies. The first, Management Fundamentals in Healthcare Organizations Certificate,  provides the core courses of the Executive MHA but is intended for individuals who do not desire a full MHA degree.  The other certificate, Leading Integrated Health Systems: Organizational Design, Strategy, Finance, and Management Certificate, provides coursework in integrated health systems and is intended for executives and clinical professionals moving into leadership positions in healthcare systems that bring hospitals and physician practices together in the same business model.

Zismer holds the rank of associate professor and brings more than 25 years of experience on the provider side of health care delivery having worked on the leadership team of Essentia Health, a multi-state health system headquartered in Duluth, Minn.  The largest component of Essentia Health is the St. Mary's Duluth Clinic (SMDC), an integrated health system with $800 million in annual operating revenues and nearly 400 employed physicians across most clinical specialties. Essentia Health also includes organizations, integrated delivery models and physician partnerships in North Dakota, Montana and Wisconsin. Zismer assisted in the formation of Essentia while serving as Managing Principal of Dorsey Health Strategies, a consulting arm of the Dorsey and Whitney law firm in Minneapolis. In addition to his operations experience, Zismer has led a number of large-scale health systems and medical practice integrations as well as specialty-focused hospital/physician partnerships and joint venture formations. He is a regular lecturer for the American College of Health Care Executives, Child Health Corporation and Voluntary Hospitals of America. He has served as visiting faculty for the Physician Leadership College, St. Thomas University. He maintains consulting and advisory relationships with Essentia Health as well as with several other large U.S. Health Systems. He has a special interest in executive and physician leadership education and development. Zismer's health systems research interests focus principally on the operating economics and value creation of integrated health systems.

He received his Ph.D. in Health Psychology from the University of Minnesota, and his bachelor's degree from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN.

NOTE:  Photos of Daniel Zismer are available upon request.  Fore more information on Healthcare Administration educational offerings, visit http://www.sph.umn.edu/programs/MHA/.