Original Two Harbors clinic. 1944

History

Emerging from humble beginnings, FirstSolutions was born from the ingenuity and hard work of Two Harbors, Minnesota residents. When the two doctors who ran the local hospital retired, the community was left without a firm health care system in place. The residents organized and purchased the local hospital from the railroad company. They created the Community Health Association (later re-named FirstPlan) in 1944, which became the very first member-owned health cooperative in Minnesota, and third in the nation. The Community Health Association became a successful business model for health management organizations (HMOs) across the country. In fact, in 1951, the New York Times sent a reporter to Two Harbors to write a story on their innovative approach to health care. (Click here to view the 1951 New York Times story.)

In the years that followed, the Community Health Association (CHA) encountered resistance and criticism from the American Medical Association, who didn’t agree with the idea of member-owned health cooperatives. These conflicts only served to strengthen the CHA, who, in 1958, built a new hospital in Two Harbors, which is now part of the St. Luke’s Hospital system. In the 1980s, the decision was made to move the CHAs headquarters to Duluth and change its name to FirstPlan, a reference to it being the first health plan in Minnesota. As the market for HMOs increased, FirstPlan recognized the need to increase its scale. It partnered with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota and began administering government-funded health plan options. In 2006, FirstPlan and its care delivery organization, SuperiorHealth Center, which owns and operates two primary care clinics and three pharmacies, united under the new name of FirstSolutions.

In 2009, after a careful review of our current status and the future of health care in the United States, FirstSolutions once again embarked on a bold new journey by exiting the health plan business. Displaying the innovation that has become synonymous with its name, FirstSolutions changed its focus to health management services and a patient-centered approach to care delivery. This new vision is congruent with the organization’s growth and evolution into a broader health care business. FirstSolutions now offers care delivery, case management, utilization management, predictive and chronic disease management, a prenatal program for expecting mothers, and an all encompassing worksite wellness program.

Today, FirstSolutions is a nationally recognized leader in providing innovative health management services.