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Dr. Ed Ehlinger, the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Health under Gov. Mark Dayton, resigned in 2017 after a series of reports that the state agency he was leading was not doing enough to protect seniors from neglect and abuse
But Ehlinger, a pediatrician and internist, never stopped working in public health, said his brother, Tom Ehlinger, of Bloomington
“He knew the challenges with public health, and he knew that along with those challenges, when you’re in the public eye, a lot of things happen,” he said. “He understood the problems, he understood the difficulties. It did not embitter him. It did not change his commitment to public health and working on public policy. He stayed present and active.”
Ed Ehlinger died Wednesday at his home in Minneapolis of complications related to melanoma. He was 80
‘All about community’
In addition to serving as the state’s health commissioner from 2011 to 2017, Ehlinger served as director and chief medical officer of the University of Minnesota’s Boynton Health Service, director of maternal and child health at the Minneapolis Health Department, and senior assistant surgeon with the National Health Service Corps in Montana
Ehlinger spent his professional career working to advance health equity and optimal health for all, said daughter Gretchen Ehlinger, of Jacksonville, Fla
“He was always looking out for everyone,” she said. “He was all about community — not just in your neighborhood, not just in your church or your religious affiliation. He was really about how all aspects of the community are connected, and how public health is not just about health — it’s about equality, inequities, transportation, availability of food
Ehlinger was instrumental in having the U of M’s Boynton Health Service adopt a more public-health focus during his tenure, said Dave Golden, a longtime friend and former colleague. Some examples: the creation of Gopher Chauffeur, the university’s safe rides home program; mass vaccinations; instituting a campuswide student health survey, and making the U of M a tobacco-free campus
“He was brilliant, driven and delightful,” Golden said. “He was so fun. It was so terrific to work with him. No matter what he was doing, he was always mission-driven by public health and the overall health of the population. His impact was really profound, locally and nationally.”
‘Driven by moral courage’
Ehlinger was past president of the Minnesota Public Health Association, the North Central College Health Association, the Twin Cities Medical Society, and the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. He also was the first board chair of CityMatCH, a national organization for city and county health departments focused on improving the health of urban women, children, and families
Magda Peck created CityMatCH, which stands for City Maternal and Child Health, in 1988, when she was the lead of maternal and child health for the City of Boston. Peck, who now lives in Richmond, Ca., said she reached out to Ehlinger in his role as director of maternal and child health for the city of Minneapolis
“When I explained that I wanted to pool our knowledge to find urban solutions for healthier moms and healthier babies, he said, ‘I don’t know you, but I’m all in. What do you want me to do?’” she said
Ehlinger was “unwavering and driven by moral courage” when it came to improving lives through public health, Peck said. “He had a passion and purpose for justice combined with science and data and proven practices.”
While serving as acting chairman of the national Advisory Committee on Infant and Maternal Mortality, Ehlinger persuaded the group, which had never met outside of Washington, D.C., to hold one of their multi-day public meetings on tribal land within the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community in Prior Lake. Led by Ehlinger, the committee convened in September 2022 to hear direct testimony regarding Indigenous maternal and infant health disparities, Peck said
“It was the first time ever that federal officials had held a meeting about infant mortality on tribal lands as guests of the tribal government,” she said. “That was groundbreaking. If it hadn’t been for Ed Ehlinger, how many different problems would not have been looked at freshly? How many leaders would not have been trained and mentored as well? How many ideas and innovations would not have been put into practice?
From Green Bay to Montana
Ehlinger grew up in Green Bay, Wis., and graduated from Premontre High School in Green Bay in 1964
He decided to become a doctor after reading Michael Harrington’s book “The Other America: Poverty in the United States” while he was in high school, Tom Ehlinger said. “It was about poverty and unequal health and economic situations throughout the country, and he thought, ‘Well, I can help that as a doctor,’” he said
Ehlinger went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for his bachelor’s degree and medical degree. He majored in English as an undergraduate “because he knew that once he got into medical school, he wouldn’t have time to do much other learning,” Tom Ehlinger said. “He felt that that kind of knowledge was important, and it did show up important in his work through the rest of his life.”
After graduating from medical school, Ehlinger moved to Montana where he did his residencies in Shelby and Harlowton as part of the National Health Service Corps
“When he got to Montana, he began to realize that a lot of the difficulties and situations in the world were brought about by policy and that if you’re going to have healthy patients, you need to have healthy communities,” Tom Ehlinger said. “That was really the core of his teaching for the rest of his life.”
Ehlinger got certified in internal medicine in Hershey, Penn., and was certified in pediatrics in Salt Lake City, Utah, he said. He also got a master’s degree in public health from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill
Avid cyclist, skier
He met Sally Steckart, who would become his wife, while the two were in high school. He was cast as King Arthur in a musical revue, and Steckert was cast as Queen Guinevere, Tom Ehlinger said
The couple, who had two daughters, moved to Minneapolis in 1980, so Sally Ehlinger could get her doctorate in physical education at the University of Minnesota, he said. She died in 2017
The couple were longtime members of Spirit of St. Stephen’s Catholic Community in Minneapolis. “That was extremely important in his life because it allowed him to keep his Catholic upbringing, which was important to him, in a way that was consistent with all of his values,” Tom Ehlinger said. “He was interested in people and the welfare of people and the idea of caring for your neighbor.”
Ehlinger was an avid cross-country skier and bicyclist. When he turned 75, family members and friends gathered and did a 75-mile bike ride with him, said his daughter Betsy Featherstone, of Minneapolis
His goal was to do 80 miles on his 80th birthday on June 22, but his melanoma returned last fall. Fortunately, he was in good enough health to do an 80-minute, 20-mile bike ride with about 20 friends and family members around the Twin Cities the weekend of his birthday, she said
Ehlinger continued studying public health and wrote a Substack newsletter — “Epistles from a Public Health Metaphysician” — until just before his death, she said
“Even up until his last couple weeks, he was publishing Substacks and writing about health equity and healthcare for all,” she said. “Even when he was a patient at (Hennepin County Medical Center), he was talking to doctors and looking for information and helping others and trying to impart some of the information that he had, and how to make things better. He always wanted to make things better.”
In addition to his two daughters, Ehlinger is survived by four grandchildren
Services are pending. Crescent Tide Cremation Services is handling arrangements
