North Dakota
New clinic in Grand Forks aims to help fill gaps in primary care
GRAND FORKS – The VitellaCare advanced primary care center opens Friday, Dec. 20, at 4399 South Columbia Road, Suite 102, according to an announcement from Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota.
The center, staffed and operated by Crossover Health, will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays for those who have eligible Blue Cross Blue Shield plans.
This is the second VitellaCare clinic in the state; the first opened last week in Minot. The clinics are designed to give Blue Cross members customized, affordable primary care, the announcement said.
Employees include a nurse practitioner, a mental health provider, a licensed practical nurse and two medical assistants.
The clinic offers same-day and next-day care appointments, either in-person or virtually. Patients may schedule appointments online or through an app.
Services include comprehensive primary care, wellness check-ups, sick care, preventive care, pediatric care for ages 3 and older, chronic condition management, mental health and pharmacy consultations, routine lab draws and care navigation.
“Crossover Health will work with other providers in the community to help get patients to the specialist they need,” said Lacey Bergh, senior vice president of health delivery, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota.
“Probably about a third of the members of Blue Cross Blue Shield don’t have a primary care provider,” Bergh said. “And we know that across the state of North Dakota there is a shortage of both primary care providers and behavioral health providers, so (the center) is providing additional access in the community in those areas where they are needed.”
“In general, health care is very complex,” Bergh said, “and so part of the model is really helping guide people through that health care experience …”
At the VitellaCare clinic, a “care navigator” helps patients by following up with them, providing support and coordinating visits with specialty care providers and even making those appointments for them, said Melissa Richard, director of communications at Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota.
The VitellaCare advanced primary care center provides a model of care that emphasizes holistic health, Bergh said. It is “focused on integrated, whole-person care, so really thinking about physical health, also mental and emotional health and well-being as well, and really addressing those with every visit.”
The center focuses on “proactive health management,” Bergh said, “so thinking about preventive services and management of chronic conditions.
“The goal in the clinics is really to spend more time with the clinician, so that they can get a good view of that whole person, both the physical and mental and emotional pieces of their health.”Taking more time with patients allows the clinician “to catch severe chronic conditions early” before they lead to requiring more costly forms of treatment, Richard said. It’s a model that prioritizes “quality of care over quantity of care.”
Another benefit is “recognizing that different patients like to have care completed (in) different ways,” Bergh said. Appointments are available in person or virtually, “so people can select the type of appointment that they would like to have with the care team.”
The clinic is open to those with selected Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance plans. Most plans do provide access to the VitellaCare center, Richard said. To determine if you have an eligible plan, call the Blue Cross Blue Shield member services line, 844-363-8457. If you have a plan that is not eligible, you can “buy up” into an eligible plan, she said.
HealthyDakota Mutual Holdings and Crossover Health have partnered to create the VitellaCare advanced primary care centers in North Dakota. HealthyDakota Mutual Holdings is a parent company that supports Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota and several other subsidiaries.
The VitellaCare clinics represent the first partnership Blue Cross Blue Shield has entered into with HealthyDakota Mutual Holdings.
Along with Crossover Health, the insurance company is considering opening VitellaCare centers elsewhere in North Dakota, especially in areas with shortages of primary care and mental and behavioral health care providers, Richard said. Other locations have not yet been confirmed.
North Dakota
Gas prices rise slightly in North Dakota amid Iran conflict
FARGO — Drivers can expect to see a slight uptick in gas prices as a result of the Iran conflict.
As of Monday, March 2, the average for North Dakota is $2.65 a gallon. While that is a $0.13 increase from a month ago, it is significantly lower than prices a year ago.
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North Dakota
State humanities group receives funding for ‘America 250’ activities
GRAND FORKS – The Study ND, formerly Humanities North Dakota, has received $15,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts for a statewide theater and humanities initiative in recognition of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.
This commemorative investment is meant to bring historical events and figures – such as the framers of the U.S. Constitution – to life through virtual and live performances that celebrate the nation’s history.
The grant, along with funding from private sources, has made it possible for The Study ND to host “America 250” activities after the organization sustained a considerable cut in funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities last year, according to Brenna Gerhardt, The Study ND executive director.
“We absorbed a 50% budget cut, resulting in a loss of $467,645 in funding,” Gerhardt said. “As a result, we had to significantly scale back our American 250 initiatives focused on American history and civics education.”
Funds received from the National Endowment for the Arts will be used to present public readings, theatrical portrayals and guided discussions to encourage audience members to reflect on the nation’s founding in 1776 and on its democratic ideals, while engaging in contemporary conversations about civic life.
All of the programming in the series organized by The Study ND, titled “American Heroes,” will be livestreamed statewide.
In the grant application submitted to the National Endowment for the Arts, “we framed the project around a simple idea: democracy requires more than information, it requires citizens who can think historically, listen well, and argue in good faith,” Gerhardt said.
“This series uses living history performances to bring consequential figures into the room, then turns the room into a civic space through moderated dialogue and related public events. We define ‘heroism’ as civic courage under pressure, the willingness to contend with hard truths, and the capacity to enlarge a community’s moral imagination,” she said.
“The project does not ask audiences to agree on a single interpretation of a figure. It invites them to grapple with complexity together, and to connect the past to the responsibilities of the present.”
When Gerhardt and her colleagues received the application for grant proposals from the National Endowment for the Arts, “we were already planning a line-up of America 250 events and it fit perfectly with what we were already planning, so then we just wrote the grant,” she said.
Private funds, including matching funds from the Bismarck-based Tom and Frances Leach Foundation, have also been provided for this project.
Details about all the events will probably be posted on the website
www.TheStudyND.org
in March, Gerhardt said.
The America 250 events, which are planned to take place at Bismarck State College, are 5-6 p.m. July 8, “Reading of the Declaration of Independence, with John Adams,” and 6-7:30 p.m. July 9, “Alexander Hamilton Speaks,” both performed by William Chrystal.
The Living History programs are planned for 7-8:15 p.m. Sept. 17, “Thomas Paine,” performed by Doug Mishler, and Oct. 6, 7-8:15 p.m, “Frederick Douglass,” performed by Nathan Richardson. Both will be moderated by Susan Frontczak.
The performers Chrystal and Richardson live in Virginia, Frontczak in Colorado,and Mishler in Nevada.
Another program, “Hemingway and Gellhorn,” is set for Sept. 16-18 at Bismarck State College, Gerhardt said. “It is part of our broader Chautauqua/living history programming connected to America 250 … (and) will feature performances and discussion centered on Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn, using their lives and writing as a way to explore major questions about American identity, war reporting, public memory, and the stories we tell about freedom, conflict and responsibility.
“What I am excited about with this event is that it gives us a way to approach America 250 beyond founding-era material. In other words, it helps us show the American story is not just about 1776, but also about the generations that followed and how Americans wrestled with democracy, power, truth and moral courage.”
This program “expands the initiative beyond commemoration into reflection, dialogue and interpretation, which is where the humanities are especially valuable,” she said. “It helps us reach audiences who may be drawn in through literature, journalism and performance, not only traditional history events.”
The Hemingway and Gellhorn program fits in with America 250 in that “it broadens the frame and adds depth to the larger effort.”
Gerhardt is hoping that these activities will give participants “a better understanding of all the debates and issues going on when our country was founded, and how those debates are continuing today,” she said, “and just to be more thoughtful and informed citizens.”
College students and members of the general public will also be invited to participate in a workshop aimed at teaching participants how to build a living history performance from primary sources and historical research.
Last year, The Study ND lost a substantial amount of funding – nearly $468,000, about half of its annual budget – from the National Endowment for the Humanities for its fiscal 2025 year.
The loss of that much funding was discouraging, Gerhardt said. “Very much so, because we had a lot of activities planned for America 250 and we had to cancel a lot of them, or – like in this case – seek other funding, which we were lucky to get.”
The Study ND currently has four full-time employees, she said. “We eliminated a part-time marketing position after the cuts.”
A nonprofit organization, The Study ND provides civics, arts and cultural education programming. The organization’s programs – which include online classes, book talks, lectures and more – reached about 24,000 people in 2024, Gerhardt told the North Dakota Monitor in April 2025.
During the summer, the organization hosts a civics education program for high school and middle school social studies teachers, she said.
North Dakota
Today in History, 1943: 2 North Dakota men die in separate Army plane crashes
On this day in 1943, two North Dakota army officers, Second Lieut. Arthur B. Kuntz and First Lieut. Bernard A. Anderson, were killed in separate medium bomber training crashes in Florida and Georgia.
Here is the complete story as it appeared in the paper that day:
Army Plane Crashes Kill Two N. D. Men
Two North Dakota officers in the army air forces were killed Sunday in bomber crashes during training flights, Associated Press dispatches revealed Monday.
Second Lieut. Arthur B. Kuntz of Harvey (Wells county) was killed with 10 others from the Avon Park, Fla., army bomber base when two medium bombers collided during a routine formation flight. Both planes crashed and there were no survivors.
First Lieut. Bernard A. Anderson of Warwick (Benson county) was one of six killed when a medium bomber from MacDill field, Tampa, Fla., crashed near Savannah, Ga. Lieutenant Anderson was co-pilot of the plane.
None of the other victims of either accident was from the Dakotas or Minnesota.
Lieutenant Kuntz, son of Mr. and Mrs. Roy Kuntz of Harvey, was graduated from the army air force navigation school at Hondo, Texas, as a second lieutenant last October, and received his wings as a navigator.
Kate Almquist is the social media manager for InForum. After working as an intern, she joined The Forum full time starting in January 2022. Readers can reach her at kalmquist@forumcomm.com.
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