Magnan aims to help people lead more healthful lives

Minnesota's new health commissioner will face a wide range of issues when she takes office Nov. 1.

On Thursday, Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced the appointment of Dr. Sanne Magnan, 55, who has said one of her priorities will be to encourage Minnesotans to adopt more healthful lifestyles.

The Minneapolis physician will replace Dianne Mandernach, who resigned after widespread criticism for delaying the public release of results from a study of cancer deaths among taconite miners in northern Minnesota.

Magnan promised on Thursday that she will be open with legislators and will share important research data and recommendations quickly with affected Minnesotans.

She will leave her post as president of the Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement in Bloomington when she becomes commissioner.

But she said she wants to "keep my hand in" as a physician in a St. Paul tuberculosis clinic as she has time, and perhaps continue as a clinical assistant professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota.

After her appointment, Magnan talked about the challenges ahead, and about how her career led her to this new job.

Q What are your top priorities as health commissioner?

A The governor very clearly wants us to be prepared for, and protect against, emerging disease threats. That's also very important to me.

But I can't say yet what our top priorities should be. I'm not a novice, but I have a lot to learn from the dedicated professionals in the department.

Certainly reforming and improving our health care system is a high priority. Minnesota already is a leader in reform, but no one so far has a blueprint for how we must change our health system.

And finding ways to help people live healthier lives may be one of the most important public health efforts the department can undertake. We need to help people stop smoking, exercise more and eat healthier diets.

I am really looking forward to [Monday], when the state's "Freedom to Breathe" law kicks in. That's going to protect a lot of people from secondhand smoke.

Q How well is Minnesota prepared for a public health crisis, such as a flu pandemic?

A I know the department has done a tremendous amount of work, but I just don't know yet how prepared we are.

It's one of many topics that I need to learn more about from the staff at the Health Department.

Q What led to your interest in medicine?

A I was always interested in becoming a doctor, but I didn't get much support from my family or anybody in that direction back in the '60s and '70s.

When I went to school I studied pharmacy. My dad still owns a pharmacy in North Carolina, where I grew up.

But after I got my Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota in medicinal chemistry, I thought more about medical school. My husband was very supportive, and I just plunged in.

I love being a physician, and I've always tried to keep practicing even when I've held other jobs.

Patients help you understand so much more about health, and about the health care system. They keep you grounded. They help you remember that no matter how lofty the policies or programs or research, the bottom line is the health of real people.

Q What's wrong with Minnesota's health care system that needs reforming?

A We have a quality chasm between the care that is and the care that should be.

Our health care costs in Minnesota rose from $19 billion in 2001 to $29 billion in 2006. That's not sustainable.

We're robbing our ability to invest in other things we need as a society in order to pay for health care that's not doing the job.

Look at diabetes in Minnesota, just one example.

A person with diabetes is at much greater risk of stroke, heart attack, amputation and blindness. We reduce that risk if the person is tobacco- free, takes aspirin if appropriate, and controls cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar.

In 2001, only 4 percent of diabetics in Minnesota met that goal. Last year it had doubled to 10 percent. The governor's ambitious QCare plan setting new quality health standards says that should be 80 percent.

It will take all of us to design a different system to fix the problems, because all of us helped create the problems.

Q How has your experience in medicine prepared you for this job?

A All my career has really been focused in work that absolutely draws me to the mission of the Health Department: To protect and improve the public health.

My work has developed me as a physician, a scientist and a leader, and that describes my new role as health commissioner.

I've worked with health plans as a medical director at Blue Cross and Blue Shield; I worked with patients, and I've been working with the health providers through the Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement to find ways to get better clinical practices in place.

I believe in science and data, and the Health Department's role is to master the science and data to improve the health of all Minnesotans.

That's been my goal in all of my jobs throughout my career -- helping keep people healthy.

Q The Health Department has many tasks -- preventing infectious diseases, promoting clean water, safe food, quality health care, regulating health care providers, educating the public. Does the department have enough resources to do the job?

A I simply don't know. The department has a very broad mandate, but it also has a lot of dedicated, excellent people.

Reviewing and setting priorities, looking at how our budgets are managed, finding out much more about the challenges we face and how well we are prepared for them, all of that will be some of my early work in the department.

When you look at the mission of the Health Department, what we're really talking about is wellness -- not just solving and preventing problems, but helping Minnesotans live healthy lives.

My goal is that Minnesotans be well -- physically, mentally and spiritually well.

Warren Wolfe • 612-673-7253

Warren Wolfe • wolfe@startribune.com