Key Indicators: Health care on board
JON HALLBERG: Oh!
CATHY WURZER: I know! But you know what? We both go for different things here, which is great. So I want to thank you very much for your time this past year. It was great to have you on the air.
JON HALLBERG: Oh, my God, my joy, Cathy. What a treat for me.
CATHY WURZER: Let’s talk about elections, right? It looks like it will happen tomorrow.
JON HALLBERG: That’s right.
CATHY WURZER: [LAUGHS]
JON HALLBERG: Yeah, I heard.
CATHY WURZER: I heard that. Yeah, that’s right. So I wonder here, as a doctor, in fact, you have to deal with a lot of rules and policies that are controlled by the elected officials. So as a doctor, as someone who is involved in the medical health industry, what are these options that you will be paying attention to?
JON HALLBERG: No, it’s very exciting for me. I think this is my 30th year of exercise. So I’ve worked through several elections, and I can’t remember one where there wasn’t a direct conversation about what was going to happen policy-wise, from both camps. directly. And that was a little different this year.
What I have noticed this year is the amount of anxiety I hear and see in the exam room itself. So the macro level is more — the micro level is more than the macro level. And I think lately I’ve been hearing things like we might try to get fluoride out of the water or that there might be legal challenges against the US Preventive Services Task Force that I’m relying on to figure out what I’m going to do in follow the prevention test. with patients it was frightening or terrifying. But overall, it seems that the focus is very much on the health of the president, and President Biden before he resigns. That’s a real turning point for me in terms of the cycle we’re going through.
CATHY WURZER: But the concern is understandable. I was talking to a group of people on Friday night, and they were — they all raised their hand when I said, are you worried? Everyone raised their hand and said, well, aren’t you worried, that is, me as a journalist? And I said, I’m trying to keep an even keel, right? So what do you tell your patients about dealing with all of this?
JON HALLBERG: First of all, I feel very fortunate to be in a job where I see everybody, and I do. I care about everyone, no matter how they think about things. I try to create a very unique environment. When we are in that exam room, this is a sanctuary. It is a safe place. And it’s a very powerful place to be, a very powerful place to practice.
And when that door is closed, it’s almost like a confessional. And a lot of the concerns that I hear from people, their worries, their fears, their hopes are a big part of the conversation. Of course I’m — I’d say, I’ve had a lot of these in 2020 and some in 2016, but I’ve never liked this. And I think the concerns that people have are the obvious things, well– insomnia, anxiety in particular, but also other physical symptoms, GI symptoms, nausea, muscle muscles, pain, headache – which may not be directly related to this. But for some people, it is because this is too much for many.
CATHY WURZER: Yeah, going forward, and maybe you want to do this broadly, there was some attention to health policies in this campaign, but not a lot. What would you like to see from our leaders?
JON HALLBERG: Well, I think to say things, more than we have the kernel of the plan or we’ll share this with you later, we need more details than that, obviously. I think you are looking at past choices. Clinton was really talking about universal health care. George W. Bush ushered in a safe haven– he got Medicare for seniors. Obama created the Affordable Care Act. It’s a big, bold effort.
And it’s like we need something concrete like that, something we can look forward to, something we can shoot for. Even with vague intentions, it is not. And I’m thinking about Mike Osterholm, who I know you’ve had, and you and I know him very well, and we’re hearing those things for the first time, that vets are hearing, that pet owners are others are reluctant to have them. dogs vaccinated against rabies. We have never heard of such a thing.
There has been such a degradation of public health services. I think that’s probably where I would start, how do we rebuild, that trust in the public health system? Because it’s been a scary thing to see that happen, the way it has been for the past few years, to not trust this epidemic. And that’s really where it all started, it seems. We really need to build that support.
CATHY WURZER: Say, I want to talk about all the things you’ve done for us here at MPR News. You’ve been with us for a very long time, and I was so glad you came back and hung out with me on the daytime show here for a while. Now, I know you’re still going to be a doctor, of course, but I think it’s great that you’re going to focus on making movies. In fact, your team won an Emmy award for something you did for Twin Cities Public Television last year. So what will you focus on here?
JON HALLBERG: It’s crazy to say this. ———————— yes–there is something in this house that means something to Cathy. I like being in the clinic. That’s where I’m probably the best. So I intend to continue to do so.
The thing about making movies is something that just came out of nowhere. It started in 2020 with this epidemic. It had a live show that I did for about ten years, and then I worked with Twin Cities Public Television. And we did four shows. We won Emmys, regional Emmys, for three of those four.
And I have four films in various stages of pre-production right now. One will focus on primary care family medicine, another on the work of a local non-profit organization, the Protége Foundation, to care for Ukrainian soldiers who lost limbs in the war, and other projects a few. And it’s so fun, so unexpected.
But I think what I like about it is, I’m in a clinic. I always think about that little medicine, one by one, caring for patients, one after another. But the work you do on television, on the radio, the work I do, allows us to wear public health hats, or my public health hat, and reach many people. And film is my favorite art form.
I like photography. I love cinematography. I like the theater. I like what is written. I like music. And it’s this amazing way of putting it all together in one package, that’s really cool.
CATHY WURZER: And how do people process what you do, does the creative side of your life connect with what you do in the classroom, or do they overlap?
JON HALLBERG: Oh, right. Not at all– I’m sitting here. I’m talking to you from Mill City Clinic. I’m looking out the window at the Guthrie Theater. And around, one of the playwrights they have is Anton Chekhov. And I’m always reminded of his life with William Carlos Williams, another one, where these were doctors who were — they were doctors of law. That was their day job. But then they had this other part of their lives, where they wrote plays or poems.
And for me, my clinical work 100% informs the artistic and personal work I do. And that, to strengthen the work I do in the clinic. So I find them completely inseparable. And I help run, with some wonderful colleagues, the Center for the Art of Medicine, and it’s this neighborhood that I love the most. And so it’s not like that either. It’s a big emphasis on “and.”
CATHY WURZER: I love it! So when you’re nominated for an Academy Award and– when you’re nominated, I want to talk to you. And then, of course, when you win an Oscar, you know who you called then.
JON HALLBERG: Oh, Cathy, if that happens, I’ll thank you from the stage. I will make sure to include you.
CATHY WURZER: [LAUGHS]
JON HALLBERG: But that’s really cool to think about. That can’t happen. But I’ve had such a great time working with — making a movie, hosting a radio show, hosting your own television show, it’s a great way to bring the city together. I just love all the different people and these great artists that came together to make this product. It’s really cool because it’s not just you at the microphone or me trying to support a movie or something. It takes a city, and I really like that piece.
CATHY WURZER: So you know the magic that comes out of what we do. And you, of course, are a big fan of your work. And don’t be a stranger. We will talk soon.
JON HALLBERG: Thank you very much indeed, Cathy. It was a pleasure working with you.
CATHY WURZER: Yes. Dr. Jon Hallberg joined us, a family medicine physician at Mill City Clinic and a professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School.
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