MN Nurses Association: Chris Rubesch Elected President to Follow Mary C. Turner

Chris Rubesch, R.N., will become the new president of the Minnesota Nurses Association, taking office January 1.

Rubesch, a cardiac nurse at Essentia Twin Ports in Duluth, ran without opposition. He is MNA’s current first vice president. 

Rubesch became a union steward when he joined MNA eight years ago and served as a member of the MNA negotiating team in 2019 and 2022. He joined the MNA board of directors in 2020.

Rubesch will succeed Mary C. Turner, R.N., an ICU nurse at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale. Turner first won election as MNA president in 2015 and served the limit of two four-year terms.

“I thank my fellow nurses for the trust they have placed in me to carry our mission forward,” said Rubesch. “The corporate policies pushed by our hospital CEOs are hurting nurses and patients at the bedside, driving nurses out of the profession, increasing prices, and limiting access for those in need of care. I am ready to work to educate, engage and empower nurses for the fight ahead against corporate greed in our healthcare system.”

“Representing our MNA nurses for the past eight years has been the honor of a lifetime,” said Turner. “From a historic statewide strike to important gains for nurses and patients in our contracts and at the Capitol, I am so proud of the work we have done together. Rest assured; I stand side by side with all our nurses in the fight ahead to put patients before profits in our hospitals.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Turner worked in the COVID ICU at North Memorial.

In 2021, Turner was selected by President Biden to serve as the only frontline healthcare worker on his COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force.

In 2023, Turner was selected by the Minnesota Legislature to serve on the University of Minnesota Board of Regents.