Practitioners in Bemidji, Fosston recognized with Rural Health Awards

ST. PAUL — The Minnesota Department of Health recently announced the winners of the state rural health awards.

The announcement came ahead of National Rural Health Day on Thursday, Nov. 20, and two of the award recipients are northwest Minnesota practitioners.

Nicole Kiesow is a physician assistant for Headwaters Health in Fosston and was the recipient of the 2025 Minnesota Rural Health Hero Award. She is described as “passionate about supporting the farmers and manufacturers who sustain communities, believing that they should not have to travel 90 miles to deliver their babies in unfamiliar hospitals.”

Kiesow and her partners opened their own clinic in Fosston this fall, with a mission to ensure that rural communities have access to dedicated providers and advocates for local health care resources.

“Nicole and her team believe that living in a rural area should not mean settling for lower-quality care,” the press release stated. “Every day, they work to restore and protect resources that larger healthcare systems have centralized in urban areas.”

The city of Fosston, which had been in a dispute with Essentia Health over diverting labor and delivery services to Detroit Lakes, issued an official proclamation for Thursday as “Nicole Kiesow Day.”

Dr. Joseph Corser is a medical director at Sanford Bemidji, and he received one of two lifetime provider achievement awards.

“Dr. Corser has worked to advance rural health care in northern Minnesota, where geographic isolation and limited resources often challenge access to care,” stated a news release. “A board-certified physician in family medicine and addiction medicine, Dr. Corser brings a philosophy of caring for the community to his work in emergency medicine, trauma and addiction care.”

Corser has pioneered many programs that address critical gaps in rural health care, including a hospitalist program at Sanford Bemidji, the Recovery Medicine Clinic for people with substance use disorders, and the trauma program that earned Sanford Bemidji a Level 3 trauma designation in 2020.

Corser has been chair of emergency medicine for two decades. He also serves as medical director for Bemidji Ambulance Service and multiple first responder groups.

The awards are given annually to individuals and groups who have made a significant contribution to improving rural health in Minnesota.