Website Privacy Policy & Terms of Use (Patient)

Effective Date: 9/28/2022

Review the information on this page to learn about the privacy policy and terms of use for Essentia Health’s websites.

Web Privacy Statement

Essentia Health is committed to protecting the privacy of those who visit our website. This Privacy Statement explains how we handle information obtained from visitors to our website.

Your use of this site indicates that you understand and agree to be bound by this Privacy Statement. Essentia Health reserves the right to modify the Privacy Statement, in whole or in part at any time. Changes will be effective upon posting to this website. Your continued use of Essentia Health's website following any change to this Privacy Statement indicates that you agree to be bound by that change.

Collection & Use of Information

Essentia Health is the sole owner of the information collected on its website. Essentia Health does not commercially sell any customer lists or email addresses.

We do not collect personally identifiable information via the website unless a website user voluntarily supplies it as part of a request for service or information. In those cases, the personally identifiable information will only be used to perform the requested service or to provide the requested information, except that on rare occasion, Essentia Health may contact registered users of the website by email to inquire about potential interest in new web services.

We may also collect demographic data and usage data on our web users to improve the site and enhance services. This may include the pages you visit, the time you spend on our site, IP addresses, browser type, device type, and information collected through cookies, pixel tags, and other tracking tools.

Essentia Health may disclose personal information if permitted or required to do so by law, or when doing so is based on a good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with a court order or legal process served on Essentia Health.

Tracking Technologies

Essentia Health’s website may use tracking technologies to collect user data, including but not limited to cookies, pixels, and Google analytics. You may be able to adjust the settings on your website browser or within settings on your mobile device to limit the use of tracking technologies.

Browser cookies are small files that are placed on a website user's computer hard drive and which are used to distinguish each website visitor. We do not use cookies to keep track of personally identifiable information about you. If you choose to disable cookies on our site, you can still access our website but some functionality may be reduced.

Pixels and beacons are small files that help us identify how often a particular page or action is taken on our website. We may also use Facebook Pixel that enables us to understand how users interact with our website after seeing an ad on Facebook and then clicking through to our website. Visit the Facebook website to learn more about the Facebook privacy policy.

Google analytics documents how many users visit our site, the pages they visit, how long they spend on the site, and other data about website usage. Visit the Google Analytics website.

Use of Information

Essentia Health collects this information to help improve your experience, improve our site performance and understand our audience size and their site usage. It also allows us to understand your preferences, recognize you when you are a returning visitor and streamline your web experience.

Links to Third Party Web Sites

The Essentia Health website may contain links to other websites. This Privacy Statement only applies to our website. Essentia Health is not responsible for the privacy policies or practices of other websites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each website.

Security Policy

We exercise care in providing secure transmission of your information from your PC to our website. Personal information collected by the Essentia Health website is stored in secure operating environments that are not available to the public. Only those employees who need access to your information in order to do their jobs are allowed access, each having signed a confidentiality agreement.

Managing Your Information

Essentia Health enables you to correct or update personally identifiable information that you have previously provided to us at any time. To do so, send an email to [email protected] indicating the information that you wish to correct or update.

Opt-Out Procedures

You may opt-out of receiving email or other communications at any time. To remove your personally identifiable information (including your email address) from our database, send an email to [email protected] with your full name and address, and the word "remove" in the subject line.

Privacy Policy Updates

Essentia Health may update our privacy policy on occasion. We will update the “Effective Date” information at the top of the policy when changes are made. We encourage you to review our privacy practices regularly.

Questions

We are continually trying to improve our site. We want you and your family to be confident in using this website as a resource. We encourage you to contact us at [email protected] with any questions or suggestions for improving our site so that we can better serve you in the future.

Terms of Use

Your use of this website and related services is conditioned upon your agreement with the Terms of Use outlined below. Your continued use of this site indicates that you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use.

As used throughout these Terms of Use, "site" and "website" include any and all websites with the Essentia Health family. The words “us,” “our,” and “we” refer to Essentia Health and its affiliated entities.

Changes

Essentia Health reserves the right to modify these Terms of Use or the content of the website at any time. Any modification to the Terms of Use is effective upon posting.

No Medical Advice

Neither Essentia Health’s website, nor any of its content, is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice and should not be used for purposes of medical diagnosis or treatment. Neither your use of this website, nor any electronic communication you send to Essentia Health or any of its healthcare providers or employees via the website establishes a physician-patient relationship and will not be considered privileged communication.

You should consult your healthcare provider to discuss any questions or concerns you have about your health. If you believe that you are experiencing a medical emergency, dial 9-1-1.

Website Use

You agree that you will not:

Use the website to communicate any information that infringes on the rights of any party;
Use the website for any purpose which violates any applicable law or rule;
Use the site as a means to distribute advertising or to otherwise solicit any third party;
Use this website for any purpose or in any manner which is unlawful, obscene, defamatory, libelous, slanderous, threatening, harassing, or embarrassing;
Attempt to disable, “hack” or otherwise interfere with the proper functioning of this website.

Security

Essentia Health reserves the right to monitor all traffic to this website. Essentia Health reserves the right to suspend your access to the website if it determines, in its sole discretion, that you have violated the Terms of Use or for any other reason.

Intellectual Property Rights

The website, including its contents, is subject to the protection of the copyright, trademark and other intellectual property laws of the United States. Essentia Health authorizes you to print or download a single copy of the content of the website for your personal, non-commercial use or as otherwise permitted by applicable law. Any other use of Essentia Health’s website content without the express, written permission of Essentia Health is strictly prohibited.

Links to Other Sites

The website contains links to other non-Essentia Health websites. These links are provided for your convenience only. Essentia Health makes no representations regarding the content or security of any non-Essentia Health website and bears no responsibility for it. The inclusion of a link does not mean that Essentia Health endorses the linked website or its content or that Essentia Health is, in any way, affiliated with the website or its creator or owner.

Class Cancellation Policy

This site provides features and functionality for online class registrations and secure credit card payments. For individual class cancellation policies, please refer to the class cancellation policy contained in each class description. Any payments refunded by Essentia Health for classes will be processed after the class has taken place.

Disclaimer and Limitation of Liability

THE INFORMATION AND MATERIALS IN THIS SITE ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. ESSENTIA HEALTH DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES EXPRESS AND IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. ESSENTIA HEALTH DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE USE OF THE WEBSITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED OR THAT THIS SITE OR THE SERVER THAT MAKES IT AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. ESSENTIA HEALTH DOES NOT WARRANT OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE.

THE USE OF THE WEBSITE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. IN NO EVENT SHALL ESSENTIA HEALTH BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL OR EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE OR ANY OTHER MONETARY DAMAGES, FEES, FINES, PENALTIES OR OTHER LIABILITIES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING IN ANY WAY TO THE WEBSITE, ITS CONTENT, OR ANY NON-ESSENTIA HEALTH WEBSITES LINKED THROUGH THIS WEBSITE. YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY FOR DISSATISFACTION WITH THE WEBSITE IS TO STOP USING IT.

Privacy and Protection of Personal Information

Subject to the Essentia Health Privacy Statement, any material, information or other communication you transmit or post to this site will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary. Essentia Health will have no obligations with respect to such communications. Essentia Health and its designees will be free to copy, disclose, distribute, incorporate and otherwise use the communications and all data, images, sounds, text, and other things embodied therein for any and all commercial or non-commercial purposes. All statements, suggestions, materials and ideas submitted or communicated to Essentia Health by you become the property of Essentia Health upon submission and you agree that all intellectual property rights therein belong to Essentia Health. You should not include patient-identifying or other private information in any transmission to this website, as Essentia Health cannot guarantee its confidentiality.

Applicable Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms of Use and your compliance with them shall be governed in accordance with the laws of the State of Minnesota, exclusive of its choice of law provisions. You agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts sitting in Duluth, St. Louis County, Minnesota for any dispute with Essentia Health, or its affiliates, subsidiaries, employees, contractors, officers, directors, telecommunication providers, and content providers related to the website, including these Terms of Use.

Severability and Waiver

If any provision of these Terms of Use is found to be invalid by any court having competent jurisdiction, the invalidity of such provision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of these Terms of Use, which shall remain in full force and effect. No waiver of any of these Terms of Use shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or condition or any other term or condition.