Leadership Evolution: Sarah Torres ascends to Riverland Community Health CEO as Dr. David Thorson Retires (again)

The Federally Qualified Health Center Unified Health Network (FUHN) has benefited from physicians who have postponed retirement to serve health centers and patients, from Dr. Dan Florey to Dr. David Thorson. For more than two years after retiring from practicing medicine, David Thorson, MD, served as the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Medical Officer of Riverland Community Health, formerly United Family Medicine. “Dr. Dave” practiced family medicine and sports medicine for more than 30 years.

Dr. Dave stepped in as the interim CEO/CMO at Riverland during a leadership transition to stabilize the St. Paul-based clinic, joining in 2023. Originally, Dr. Dave was going to be in the role for three months. As we close out 2025, Dr. Dave is officially retiring and pursuing his next chapter.

“On behalf of FUHN, I want to express my deep appreciation and gratitude to Dave,” said Mary Maertens, FUHN’s Executive Director. “Dave’s leadership, knowledge, and good nature have been valuable and positive assets to community health clinics across the state and the patients they serve.”

Riverland Taps Chief Operating Officer to be new CEO

When Riverland’s board of directors learned that Dr. Dave planned to retire, they asked the clinic’s Chief Operating Officer, Sarah Torres, to lead the organization as CEO. Sarah had been the acting COO since February 2024, in a consulting capacity, maintaining other contracts as well, including serving as the Operations Support Liaison for FUHN. She moved into the COO role permanently as a full-time employee in January 2025.

Sarah started her career in healthcare by chance. She graduated from the University of Minnesota with an undergraduate degree in Spanish and International Relations. As part of one of her Spanish courses, Sarah needed to volunteer with a local nonprofit. When asked which industry she wanted to work in, Sarah chose healthcare.

“At the time, I had zero direction,” said Sarah. “I thought I might be an interpreter. But I found my calling at West Side Community Health Services, which had a clinic at 27th and Lake Street in Minneapolis. I loved the in-passing interactions with patients; they were just so wonderful, and I loved getting to know them. I loved the staff, too, and the community they created. Many were immigrants themselves from all over Central and South America. I felt so welcomed and energized every time I went there.”

Sarah enjoyed her time at West Side Community Health Services (now Minnesota Community Care, another FUHN member clinic) so much that she continued volunteering there through the rest of college. Fortunately for Sarah, the clinic had a position available when she graduated, and she joined the staff. Eventually, West Side Community Health Services closed that location, Hennepin Healthcare opened the site as its East Lake Clinic, and Sarah became the clinic manager.

“I went from being a volunteer in the practice to managing the practice,” Sarah said. “On reflection, I feel very, very privileged to have been there during that time because while HCMC was well known and respected for its education and training and its trauma center, the organization was figuring out how to do ambulatory care and primary care. I started working with new leadership, and together we learned the fundamentals of strong clinic and practice management, financial management, staff and provider engagement, quality and process improvement, and patient engagement — all the things that make a strong and healthy practice.”

Learning the business side of clinic management

The experience at the East Lake Clinic shaped Sarah’s leadership style and practice, including her focus on leading with curiosity. The team constantly asked, “How do we make this better?” They challenged themselves to try and “fail fast.” They embraced the lean methodology and pursued “rapid process improvement workshops,” which Sarah had an opportunity to lead. Sarah learned about change management, leaning into “adaptive leadership,” an approach that is based on four key elements: emotional intelligence, organizational justice, development, and character. (To learn more, go to: Adaptive Leadership: Definition, Principles & Examples.)

Sarah shared that during the second half of her career at Hennepin Healthcare, the organization realized that to lead in values-based contracts and become a system of choice, it was going to need to expand its primary care footprint. Sarah moved into a leadership position to spearhead the work to expand its primary care network, building a total of six clinics. For Sarah, it was among the most fun working experiences she has had in her career.

“The experience got me more into the business side of practice management, everything from putting together the pro forma to working on the schematic of the clinic design,” said Sarah. “I was able to lean into my operations experiences, learning what a clinic needed in terms of space and accommodations to ensure everyone was able to perform to their best self. I also really got into community engagement from a clinic development perspective versus clinic management, so I learned different strategies for entering a new market.”

During this time, she also completed her Master’s in Health Administration from the University of Minnesota. For two years, she was a full-time employee, full-time student, and full-time single mom of two boys who were four and five when she started the program.

When her position was eliminated along with the jobs of more than 100 colleagues, she pursued a leadership role in home and community-based services and continued her learning path.

Demonstrating the importance of a strong network

Over her years at Hennepin Healthcare, Sarah developed a strong network of friends and colleagues. One of her former colleagues,  a member of the United Family Medicine (UFM) team, reached out to Sarah and asked her to apply for their COO position; they were looking for a “transformational leader to help them evaluate their care model and bring the clinic into the 21st century.” Sarah joined the team and started on what ended up being the first day of staff furloughs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to nurturing a strong professional network of current and former colleagues, Sarah has been an active member of the Women’s Leadership TRUST, a dynamic network of women working in health care seeking to nurture their professional and personal growth. Sarah stayed in the UFM COO role for just under two years, when a TRUST member suggested she consider Prime Therapeutics, a pharmacy benefit management company.

Sarah was interested in leaving the provider space to challenge herself to see if her skills and abilities would transfer to another facet of the healthcare industry. She landed the position of Director, Medicare in the Networks Management division of Prime Therapeutics, a role she had until the company acquired Magellan Rx Management, which led to a “cascade of positions being eliminated,” including Sarah’s.

With the shift, Sarah decided to try consulting and figured out quickly how to bill clients, pay taxes, and juggle multiple contracts. Her strong network helped her land projects with community health centers, including Riverland.

Sarah is excited about her new role, and while the rebranding from United Family Medicine to Riverland Community Health has been challenging with respect to name recognition, the organization is starting to see traction.

“We’re starting to see some amazing anecdotes of people really understanding who we are,” said Sarah. “We just had a woman reach out who is diabetic and not very well controlled. Even though she doesn’t live nearby, she said, ‘My friend sees you, and she’s getting really good care. Can I get treated there, too?’ Additionally, one of our clinicians was at a local hospital riding in the elevator, and someone saw their badge and said, ‘We hear you guys take really good care of your patients.’ I love that.”

Sarah and her team’s focus is to continue to build brand recognition, provide great care, and strengthen community partnerships.

The entire FUHN team wishes her all the best and hearty congratulations on her new role!