Allina News

[Hospitals and Health Networks, Nov., 2011]  Marcia Carlson, a social worker at the Virginia Piper Cancer Institute, has written a book that gives helpful advice when talking to kids about family members who have cancer.  Read the article.

[Journal of the American Medical Association] November 14, 2011 — A study that involved patients at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation found that giving patients stem cell therapy two or three weeks after angioplasty did not improve heart function. Cardiologist Jay Traverse, MD, of the Minneapolis Heart Institute at Abbott Northwestern Hospital and lead study [...]

[Modern Healthcare, October 10, 2011] Allina Hospitals & Clinics, a 10-hospital system with centers in Minnesota and Wisconsin, has promoted Dr. Ben Bache-Wiig to president of its flagship facility, Abbott Northwestern Hospital, a 639-bed institution in Minneapolis. Bache-Wiig, 54, had been Abbott Northwestern’s vice president of medical affairs since July 2009. He succeeds Jeff Peterson, [...]

[Infection Control Today, June 14, 2011] Mercy Hospital, part of Allina Hospitals & Clinics, is one of only four hospitals in the U.S. to be awarded an Outstanding Leadership Award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for achievements in eliminating two types of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Read full article in infectioncontroltoday.com.

[Cardiology Today, May 10, 2011] The addition of high-fidelity intracardiac electrogram signals in implantable cardioverter defibrillators provided data indicating that high-risk CVD patients experienced low rates of spontaneous coronary events. “The events are shockingly low,” said study investigator Timothy D. Henry, MD, of the Minneapolis Heart Institute at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. “The results suggest that [...]

[Massage Magazine, April 27, 2011] The American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) announces a new collaboration with the Penny George Institute for Health and Healing at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The collaboration focuses on research analyses of the effectiveness of therapeutic massage in care provided to inpatients in the hospital from July 2005 through [...]

[Twin Cities Business, April 19, 2011] Allina Hospitals & Clinics has started work on a project that has been on its radar for about 10 years—a consolidated central medical laboratory. Construction began in March on the new $29 million lab for Allina Medical Laboratories, which will house 400 employees who are currently spread out among [...]

[Minnesota Medicine, April 2011] Christopher Obetz pulls back the curtain and steps into exam room 11 in Abbott Northwestern Hospital’s emergency department. Inside, a young woman lies on the bed fully clothed; the clear plastic brace encircling her neck is the only obvious indicator that something is wrong. Her chart says she has had a [...]

[Scientific American,  April 3, 2011] The town of New Ulm, Minn., some 90 miles outside of Minneapolis, is small. With a population of about 15,000, the self-proclaimed polka capital of the U.S. might not seem like the most obvious locale to roll out an aggressive, unconventional attack on heart disease. But for the past couple [...]

[Twin Cities Business, March 31, 2011] The annual Thomson Reuters study of the “100 Top Hospitals” honored two Minnesota medical centers including Allina’s Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids, recognized in the medium community hospitals category. Reuters evaluated 2,914 hospitals across the country on measures of overall organization performance  including patient care. U.S. News also ranked [...]

[Minnesota Medicine, February 2011] Accountable care organizations (ACOs) are being hailed as a promising element of health care reform, as some believe they will be critical to improving the quality of care and holding down costs. Several state and federal ACO demonstration projects are scheduled to begin in the near future. Yet, questions abound as [...]

[Modern Healthcare, Dec. 14, 2010] Allina Hospitals & Clinics is among a group of large hospital systems that has sent a letter to the Medical Device Manufacturers Association (PDF) disputing the findings of a recent study put out by the organization. The study, released this past October, concluded that group purchasing organizations’ contracting practices drive [...]