Allina News

[Star Tribune, Feb. 26, 2010] “I’m celebrating a birthday today for my friend Genard Lane. Actually, we’re toasting his heart, which has reached the ripe old age of 45. And what a heart it is.”
The story began in 1986, when Genard was 47 and his own diseased heart was failing. Things looked so bleak that [...]

[Allina Newsroom, Feb. 25, 2010] N. Marcus Thygeson, M.D., has been named President of the Center for Health Care Innovation at Allina Hospitals & Clinics.
Launched in June, 2008, the Center for Health Care Innovation at Allina supports the organization’s research activities by incubating new ideas and accelerating the adoption of evidence-based [...]

[WCCO-TV, Feb. 24, 2010] Surviving one heart attack is a pretty exciting thing, but five of them? Former vice-president Dick Cheney is now out of the hospital after having his fourth attack in 32 years. So is Dick Cheney a superman or have doctors just gotten that good at treating heart attacks?
“There are heart attacks [...]

[WCCO Radio, Feb. 25, 2010] More than a month after the devastating Haiti earthquake, relief workers are still just reaching people in need in rural areas. Allina’s Dr. Scott Tongen, a hospitalist at United Hospital, is one of the volunteer physicians in Haiti. He spoke live from Haiti with WCCO’s Telly Mamayak and Adam Carter [...]

[Star Tribune, Feb. 22, 2010] Last summer, Steven Erickson was in such sad shape he could barely make it out to his vegetable garden without huffing and puffing. To combat frequent chest pain, he was popping about 100 nitroglycerin pills every three days or so.
The conundrum facing Erickson’s doctor and many others — finding a [...]

[Minneapolis, Feb. 22, 2010] Everyday choices such as what you eat and whether you exercise directly influence your physiology, brain chemistry and mood, making stress seem insurmountable to some and manageable to others.
Adequate downtime, along with simple choices about food, sleep and exercise directly influence your physiology, brain chemistry, mood and ability to cope with [...]

[KSTP-TV, Feb. 18, 2010] Before Shirley Billingmeyer underwent her final round of chemotherapy at Abbott Northwestern Hospital her daughter spent time brushing her mother’s hair. Even after six rounds of treatment, Billingmeyer retained the hair on her scalp, a fact she attributes to experimental headwear.
“My hair is all there. It definitely works,” Billingmeyer said.
Watch the [...]

[KSTP-TV, Feb. 17, 2010] Studies have shown patients with diabetes have a greater risk of suffering from depression. Sometimes it’s a challenge to correctly diagnose depression for people with diabetes.
Dr. Alan Steed, a psychologist with Allina Medical Clinic, talked about the issue with KSPT-TV’s Megan Newquist. Watch the interview below and see more at kstp.com.

[WCCO Radio, Feb. 18, 2010] After two weeks in Vancouver caring for Olympic athletes in the Olympic Village clinic, Allina Medical Clinic-Northfield physician Scott Koehler, MD,  is home. He was interviewed on his experience at the Olympics on the WCCO Radio News Hour today. Listen to the interview below.

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Allina Medical Clinic’s Dr. Scott Koehler on [...]

[New Ulm Journal, Feb. 18, 2010] Brown county received a mix of good and bad news Wednesday when a health rankings study was released by the University of Wisconsin’s Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Each county was ranked within its state on how healthy people are and how long they live.
“I think [...]

[Fox 9 News, Feb. 11, 2010]  When former president Bill Clinton was hospitalized recently in New York, cardiologist Wes Pedersen, M.D., an interventional cardiologist at the Minneapolis Heart Institute at Abbott Northwestern Hospital talked to local reporters about the kind of procedure he underwent.
See one story here on myfoxtwincities.com.

[Finance & Commerce, Feb. 15, 2010] Go Home Gorgeous is growing and expects to keep on expanding. The Edina-based provider of luxury massages and other post-partum relief for new mothers has added its in-hospital services this month at United Hospital in St. Paul.
Go Home Gorgeous founder and owner Rachel Swardson expects several other hospitals soon [...]

[WCCO Radio, Feb. 16, 2010] Can you die of a broken heart? Turns out you can according to a growing body of research. The latest study comes from Allina’s Minneapolis Heart Institute at Abbott Northwestern Hospital.
MHI’s Dr. Scott Sharkey discussed that research on WCCO Radio’s Mondale & Jones program today. Listen below or at wccoradio.com.

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[WCCO Radio, Feb. 12, 2010] Former President Bill Clinton had two stents inserted into a coronary artery Thursday and was released from the hospital a day later. Cardiologist Kevin Graham, from Allina’s Minneapolis Heart Institute at Abbott Northwestern Hospital visited with WCCO Radio’s Susie Jones and John Hines about the procedures performed on Clinton and [...]

[Isanti County News, Jan. 20, 2010] A doctor prescribes a long-lasting narcotic, such as Vicodin, Percocet or OxyContin, to a patient complaining of chronic pain. The patient, with a smaller dosage, faces an empty pill bottle in no time and is denied refills. A search then begins and evolves [...]

[Owatonna People's Press, Feb. 12, 2010] Operations are running smoothly at the Owatonna Hospital, which relocated to 26th Street in October. So smoothly, in fact, that some of the patients who have been treated at the facility are coming back to volunteer their services.
That’s one of the experiences that Sue Simons, volunteer services supervisor for [...]

[Farmington Independent, Feb. 11, 2010] From the outside of the Feely Elevator silos, onlookers were left to wonder what was happening inside the silo where Mark Malecha was trapped. Inside, though, ALF (Apple Valley, Lakeville, Farmington) paramedics worked diligently to save Malecha not only from being crushed by the shifting corn, but from toxins that [...]

[MinnPost, Feb. 10, 2010] MinnPost columnist and Abbott Northwestern Hospital hospitalist Dr. Craig Bowron, writes this week on the departure of another Allina doctor heading home from Haiti:
After spending the last two weeks working in a field hospital in Port-au-Prince, internist and pediatrician Dr. Peter Melchert is heading home today (see two previous posts here [...]

[Wall Street Journal, Feb. 11. 2010] Two defibrillator brands made by Boston Scientific Corp. have a design flaw that can result in the devices delivering potentially life-threatening shocks to the hearts of patients, authors of a medical journal article say.
The defect can cause the Cognis and Teligen brand defibrillators to deliver the shocks when they [...]

[WCCO Radio, Feb. 10, 2010] February is Heart Month. Dr. Kevin Graham is a cardiologist and president of Allina’s Minneapolis Heart Institute at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. He talks with WCCO’s John Hines on a wide range of heart health issues including how vitamin supplements, including vitamin D, can improve how you feel and improve your [...]

[The Hospitalist, Feb. 10, 2010] A concerted effort to reduce patient falls in Minnesota hospitals culminated last year as the Gopher State reported zero fatal falls—a result heavily attributed to hospitalist efforts.
A report last month from Minnesota health officials shows that no patients died from falls in 2009. It was the first fatality-free reporting period [...]

[Northfield News, Feb. 9, 2010] Dr. Scott Koehler loves his job as a sports medicine specialist at Allina Medical Clinic in Northfield. He also realizes if he’s busy, that means somebody is hurt.
For the second time in his medical career, Koehler is taking his talents to the biggest stage in the world. He applied for [...]

[Allina Newsroom, Feb. 10, 2010] Allina Hospitals & Clinics’ United Hospital has once again earned the Gold Seal of Approval™ for health care quality. The Joint Commission, a national hospital accreditation agency, awarded United Hospital the Certification of Distinction for its Inpatient Diabetes care Inpatient Diabetes, one of only two hospitals in Minnesota to win [...]

[Natural Medicine Journal, Feb. 10, 2010] Lori Knutson, RN, BSN, HN-BC, is the Executive Director of the Penny George Institute for Health and Healing at Abbott Northwestern Hospital and holds the Brenden Leadership Chair in Integrative Medicine. She has developed the largest hospital-based integrative care program in the U.S. that includes: inpatient programs and services; [...]

[KMSP-TV, Feb. 9, 2010] A decade ago, the government’s healthy people program targeted 2010 to reduce children obesity to just five percent. The number is staggering. Now, 32 percent of our kids are obese. Some believe that puts children on track to die at a younger age than their parents.
Allina Medical Clinic [...]