Family Physician
CHI St. Gabriel's Family Medical Center
Little Falls, MN
In 2012, Dr. Heather Bell began her family medicine practice in rural MN. With her visionary leadership, Dr. Bell has been influential in redesigning the primary care delivery model across the clinic by adopting whole person centered care leading the clinic in earning recognition by the state of Minnesota as a Medical Home. As opioid use and related issues became increasingly apparent, Dr. Bell identified that the whole-person care approach was most appropriate for re-engineering the approaches to care of this population. Seeing a gap in care, she started using medication-assisted addiction treatment with buprenorphine as part of her primary care practice. Her leadership and perseverance are transforming the clinic practice, demonstrating success in both cost savings and patient care outcomes. Dr. Bell, with her colleague Dr. DeVine, in partnership with the MN Department of Human Services, have launched the first MN ECHO program (videoconferencing education platform). Through this program and funding they have been able to educate and mentor others on appropriate opioid prescribing and encouraging rural buprenorphine treatment.
Wednesday, April 24
5:00 PM – 6:15 PM