Allina News

[River Falls Journal, Dec. 31, 2009] The River Falls Area Hospital Foundation will launch a new fundraising campaign to purchase a LUCAS Chest Compression System, the latest in life-saving cardiac technology, for the hospital’s emergency department. Community members will be contacted by mail and phone and will be invited to make a contribution to support [...]

[The McLeod County Chronicle, Dec. 31, 2009] Christmas came early this year to the Glencoe home of Bill and Marilyn Dunbar, where on Nov. 13, Marilyn and sons Hunter, Chase and Reed happily shared a gift. It was Bill, returning after nine days at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, where medical professionals twice lowered his [...]

[Dec. 30,009] General surgeon Christopher Nielsen, MD, FACS, is joining Surgical Care Consultants, P.A., and Jose Fulco, MD, in a general surgery practice that will provide services to both Allina Medical Clinic and Northfield Hospital & Clinics. Dr. Nielsen comes to Northfield from the Twin Cities, where he has been practicing since 2006. Prior to [...]

[Information Management, Dec. 30, 2009] When Allina Hospitals and Clinics in Minneapolis decided to implement inpatient and ambulatory electronic health records across its 11-hospital delivery system, it adopted the single-vendor model and chose Epic Systems Corp., Verona, Wis. The selection process took six months, “which for a system of our size is quite remarkable,” says [...]

[Minnesota Public Radio - Midmorning, Dec. 29, 2009] H1N1 and the effort to reform health care dominated the news this year, but two local doctors say the year in medicine was marked less by major breakthroughs than by the debunking of long-held medical beliefs. Craig Bowron, MD, a hospitalist at Allina’s Abbott Northwestern Hospital and [...]

[Star Tribune, Dec. 29, 2009] High-deductible health insurance and economic uncertainty have combined to create a crush of year-end elective surgeries at area hospitals including several of Allina’s. At Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, overall surgery volumes have topped 100 a day for the past six weeks, up from the usual 80 a day. Some [...]

[Star Tribune, Dec. 29, 2009] Many politicians have overcome admissions of addiction or depression, thanks to better understanding of the manageable diseases. Can Dayton, too? There was a time when the public admission of mental illness could derail a candidate’s political career. That could still happen to Mark Dayton, the Democratic candidate for governor who [...]

[Northland Press, Dec. 29, 2009] Riverwood Healthcare Center and Cuyuna Regional Medical Center (CRMC) are pleased to announce their plans to provide cancer care services in affiliation with the Virginia Piper Cancer Institute(tm) (VPCI). VPCI is the comprehensive cancer care program of Allina Hospitals & Clinics based in Minneapolis and is strategically aligned with Minnesota [...]

[Star Tribune, Dec. 27, 2009] A groundbreaking type of funding is giving a boost to the new Fridley Medical Center, where construction began this month. Under $17 million in new bonding authority it received through the federal stimulus package, Anoka County will in effect transfer some of its bonding, or borrowing, power to the companies [...]

[Positively Minnesota-DEED, Nov. 6, 2009] This partnership addresses the serious healthcare worker shortage faced by four rural healthcare facilities in Southern Minnesota – New Ulm Medical Center, Sleepy Eye Medical Center, Madelia Community Hospital and Oak Hills Living Center. South Central College will work with Ridgewater College and Hennepin Technical College to develop curriculum focusing [...]

[Minnesota Public Radio - Midmorning, Dec. 24, 2009] The light is gradually returning, but not fast enough for those who suffer from seasonal affective disorder. Midmorning talks to Allina Medical Clinic psychologist Dr. Alan Steed about what separates SAD from other forms of depression, and what researchers are learning about the most effective treatments. See [...]

[WCCO 4 News, Dec. 22, 2009] A Christmas CD is helping to soothe babies at Abbott Northwestern Hospital this holiday season. Tim O’Neill is a pianist and father of two preemie babies. He came up with The Christmas Lullabies CD after his own children seem to benefit from hearing the music. See the story at [...]