MDH Names Michelle Larson Director of Health Regulation Division

Posted on April 16, 2019 by Jonathan Lips

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has announced that Michelle Larson was named the full-time Director for the Health Regulation Division. She had been serving as the interim director of that division. 

During her interim appointment, Larsen also served as the Director of the Office of Medical Cannabis at MDH where she helped create structure and stability for the new office and put together an impressive track record of engaging productively and respectfully with stakeholder.

“Michelle is ideally positioned to accelerate our work on performance improvement, to ensure accountability both for her own division and for care providers, and to integrate new areas of regulatory focus in the years ahead as we work to protect the safety and dignity of Minnesota seniors,” said Marie Dotseth, MDH Assistant Commissioner, Health Systems Bureau.

Larson has 20 years of public health experience at the state and local level that includes topics such as obesity, tobacco prevention, Strategic National Stockpile, emergency preparedness, environmental health, and policy development. She has a PhD from the University of Minnesota in Organization, Leadership, and Policy Development, a Masters of Public Affairs from the University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Government, and a Bachelor of Science degree from University of Wisconsin. Larson also served in the Minnesota Air National Guard for six years. She can be reached at michelle.larson@state.mn.us.