On Thursday, Sept. 27, Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement (ICSI) President Sanne Magnan, MD, PhD, was appointed Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Health by Gov. Tim Pawlenty. In accepting the appointment, Dr. Magnan is stepping down from her position at ICSI, but into an even more important role to safeguard the health of all Minnesotans.

"This is an opportunity to serve the citizens of Minnesota and to advance the mission of health, as well as quality, affordability, accessibility and prevention," she wrote to ICSI board members on the eve of her appointment.

Brief tenure, big impact
Dr. Magnan was named President of ICSI in July 2006, coming from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, where she was vice president and medical director for consumer health and, previously, medical director of the Blue Cross Center for Prevention. She brought a comprehensive understanding of ICSI, having served as an alternate on ICSI's board of directors from 2001 through 2005.

A board-certified internist, Dr. Magnan has been a clinician and educator throughout her administrative leadership career. She has maintained an active clinical practice at the Tuberculosis Clinic of the St. Paul-Ramsey County Department of Public Health and is a clinical assistant professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Magnan received her medical degree and a PhD in medicinal chemistry from the University of Minnesota.

"I am a physician, a scientist and a leader," she said at the governor's press conference last Thursday. "I think the openness of leaders is very important, and listening to many stakeholders is important to building trust, and I pledge to do that."

Dr. Magnan's leadership abilities have been evident at ICSI, where she guided the organization to articulate its strategic vision and ready its operational plans for "quantum leaps" that will transform our health care system into one that delivers better quality and more value, with the patient as its focal point. Dr. Magnan's methodology has been simple: listen, listen, listen. She summarized her role, and ICSI's role, as one of "leading change in a collaborative way." Building trust and consensus has been her specialty at ICSI. It is a skill that will undoubtedly serve her well at the Minnesota Department of Health.

Transition plans
Dr. Magnan will be assuming her new post around the first of November. "Although the details of ICSI's leadership transition are still taking shape, we are certain that ICSI will continue to move forward aggressively on our new strategic direction to 'Redesign for Results,' " noted ICSI Chief Operating Officer John Sakowski.