Project Overview

Essentia Health is making the largest private investment in Duluth’s history as it transforms its downtown medical campus.

The $800 million project, called Vision Northland, will match Essentia’s facilities with how medicine is practiced in the 21st century and bring the highest quality health care to patients.

Essentia Health will invest around $675 million to construct a replacement hospital bed tower, clinic space and surgical suites to replace buildings on its downtown Duluth campus. We will spend another $125 million on related infrastructure and financing.

Vision Northland represents a major investment in Essentia Health’s mission as well as the future of Duluth and surrounding areas. The project demonstrates Essentia Health’s commitment to the health of its patients, the economic vitality of the community and the work environment for its staff.

The project will build approximately 928,000 square feet of new space and renovate approximately 120,000 square feet in existing facilities. By consolidating our campus, Essentia Health’s overall footprint will be reduced, opening space for other development in Duluth’s Central Hillside neighborhood.

Vision Northland is much more than a building project. It’s about how Essentia Health cares for its patients and matching its facilities to how medicine is practiced now and in the future. Health care has changed since St. Mary’s Medical Center was founded in 1888.

The construction project is expected to be completed in winter 2022-23.

Print a 1-page Vision Northland fact sheet.