About Gwen Halaas, MD, MBA

Dr. Gwen Halaas is Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at Washington State University Health Sciences Spokane and a professor in the College of Nursing. She was formerly senior associate dean for education at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences and professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine.

She has worked as medical director at Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota doing medical review and medical policy work and was on the Medical Policy Panel for the national Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. She works as Senior Consultant for Critical Measures preparing evaluation tools and training programs for addressing cultural diversity in health care organizations.

Dr. Halaas received her medical degree from Harvard Medical School, family medicine training at the University of Minnesota, and an MBA in Health Care from the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She has worked in medical education since 1986 as faculty, assistant director and program director of family medicine residency programs and director of a rural longitudinal training program for medical students.

She has been a leader, teacher and advisor for interprofessional health education. She was awarded Minnesota Academy of Family Physician Teacher of the Year in 2008.

Dr. Halaas practiced full spectrum family medicine for many years in St. Paul Minnesota, and has worked in administrative leadership for large health plans, including HealthPartners in Minnesota, and as a consultant in ministerial health and wellness for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. She has written books, chapters and articles on professional wellness, medical and interprofessional education. She was profiled for her administrative leadership in Fitzhugh Mullan’s book, Big Doctoring in America: Profiles in Primary Care.