Allina News

[Grand Rapids-Herald Review, August 21] In May 2010, Grand Rapids resident John Webster was about to die, by all reasonable suspicion. He has a history of heart-related issues, including a heart attack in 2005 at which time he had a stent put in. With rapidly declining health, Webster at 67 years old was quickly losing [...]

[Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, Aug. 27, 2010] Twin Cities health providers are turning to remote video language interpreting as a way to better meet the needs of a growing number of immigrant patients. “Typically, when we have a scheduled patient arrival, there will be an in-person interpreter. But with the [emergency department], it could be [...]

[Ster Tribune, Aug. 24, 2010] University of Minnesota researchers say they have found a potential new treatment for HIV, using a mixture of two anti-cancer drugs that are already on the market. Researcher Louis Mansky said the two-drug combination killed off the HIV cells quickly, sometimes in a matter of hours, in the lab experiments. [...]

[Star Tribune, August 18, 2010] Laurie Aguirre, a Health Unit Coordinator at United Hospital in St. Paul, talks about her work. Read the interview online at startribune.com.

[Star Tribune, August 17, 2010] Combine the socializing of a Tupperware party with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training and you’ve got a “save-a-life” party. Save-a-life parties are designed to teach people to react quickly in emergencies, and, in particular, how to use CPR. Save-a-life parties are more relaxed than CPR certification courses, which go for four [...]

[Herald Journal, August 16, 2010] “Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) affects 300,000 people each year, and the chances of survival are dismal,” according to Charles Lick, MD, emergency medical director for Allina Medical Transportation and Buffalo Hospital’s Emergency Department. Unless victims are provided with adequate aid in a timely fashion—ideally CPR and a shock from an [...]

[Anoka County Union, Aug. 4, 2010] Ground was broken Aug. 3 for the new 25,000 square-foot Allina Clinic by Allina Hospital and Clinics and city of Ramsey dignitaries. The new one-story clinic will feature more space, a physical therapy area and a design that allows natural light into most areas. The projected is expected to [...]

[Savage Pacer, Aug. 9, 2010] Two familiar medical clinics – Allina and St. Francis – have been inked into plans to construct a two-story building on the southwest corner of county roads 42 and 27. Mark Davis of Davis Real Estate Services Group LLC, said Allina will move its current Crossroads Clinic at the corner [...]

[Wright County Journal Press, Aug. 9, 2010] The first thing you notice upon entering the new Birth Center at Buffalo Hospital is the size. Long corridors and rows of hotel-like postpartum rooms are quite a contrast to the former Birth Center. The space for the Birth Center has nearly quadrupled from about 4,500 square feet [...]

[New Ulm Journal, August 4, 2010] New Ulm has been named a “Heart Safe” community by  Allina Hospitals and Clinics. Officials from Allina and New Ulm Medical Center gave the news and presented a certificate to the New Ulm City Council at its meeting on Tuesday. New Ulm is only the third community in Minnesota [...]

[Coon Rapids Herald, July 21, 2010] Dr. Stephen Remole parted with his signature locks Monday in the name of exercise. In a matter of minutes, Remole’s gray locks were piled on the grass of the park behind Mercy Hospital and electrophysiologist was rubbing his hands along his hair-free head. Remole’s new hairdo is the result [...]

[New York Times, posted July 26, 2010] Common sense will go far. Plants should be presumed dangerous for consumption unless proved otherwise. “Just because it’s natural doesn’t mean it’s safe,” said Dr. Gregory Plotnikoff, 49, a medical researcher and a physician at the Penny George Institute for Health and Healing in Minneapolis. Dr. Plotnikoff has [...]

[Star Tribune, July 23, 2010] Starting in August, new mothers will have a chance to multi-task in style in Buffalo, Minn. The local hospital is unveiling its new birth center, where every patient room will be equipped with an iPod docking station, a flat-screen TV and DVD player, a soaking tub, rocking chair and refrigerator [...]

[Pioneer Press, July 23, 2010] Hospitals in the Twin Cities and Fargo, N.D., reported Thursday an unusual series of five kidney transplant surgeries that shows just how far doctors are going to stretch the limited supply of organ donors. The so-called “kidney chain” got started this month with an altruistic donor in Minneapolis who donated [...]

[Star Tribune, July 22, 2010] An anonymous kidney donor last week launched a chain of 10 surgeries and five transplants at three hospitals in Minnesota and North Dakota. Though such exchanges have occurred in other states, this is the first time that such a complex kidney swap took place in Minnesota, long a leader in [...]

[Star Tribune, July 22, 2010] If you’re having a heart attack, you may not need an emergency room at all, according to a groundbreaking study at United Hospital in St. Paul. Researchers found that patients get faster care, and are more likely to survive, if an ambulance crew takes them straight to a specialized hospital [...]

[Star Tribune, July 19, 2010] Jim Meis, 60, didn’t die that day. About an hour after he collapsed at his home in Monticello, he was landing on the helipad at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, pumped full of drugs and with a breathing tube down his throat. Meis’ survival that harrowing night is the story of [...]

[ABC Newspapers, Coon Rapids, Minn., July 14, 2010] They say you can choose your friends but not your family. Well, after a June 14 swap of a medical sort, a pair of District 11 school teachers have family ties – not to mention surgical scars – that bind. You see, Roosevelt Middle School art teacher [...]

[Stillwater Gazette, June 17, 2010] Lakeview Health recently implemented “Excellian,” electronic medical record (EMR) technology, at all of the Stillwater Medical Group locations. This fully secure system will also be in place at Lakeview Hospital in 2011. Lakeview Health purchased Excellian from Allina Health System, which is installing and supporting the technology. Its system is [...]

[Star Tribune, June 6, 2010] Last summer, Barbara Grangaard developed a slight tremor in her right hand and went in for an MRI scan. The results were a surprise. The test didn’t detect any problem related to the tremor, but it did reveal an aneurysm, a bubble protruding from a blood vessel in her brain. [...]

[West Sherburne Tribune, June 3, 2010] John Riebel is grateful to be alive. The busy county commissioner and Becker True Value Hardware business owner suffered a heart attack in February, the same evening he attended a heart education class at New River Medical Center. Attending the class by himself, Riebel listened as Dr. Kevin Graham [...]

[StarTribune, June 2, 2010] Some say the pendulum has swung too far. The share of babies born before 37 weeks has jumped sharply since 1990, partly because doctors induce labor more often. C-sections have increased by more than 50 percent in the past decade and are now the most commonly performed surgery in the country. [...]

[Twin Cities Business Magazine, May 26, 2010] Ken Paulus, CEO of Minneapolis-based Allina Hospitals and Clinics, has voluntarily chosen to work without compensation until the hospital settles current negotiations with its nurses. In an e-mail sent to all Allina employees on Thursday, Paulus said that he had “plenty of worries” about the hospital’s negotiations with [...]

[Star Tribune, May 26, 2010] The chief executive of Allina Hospitals & Clinics is voluntarily working without pay until the Twin Cities’ biggest hospital chain reaches an agreement with its nurses. After Twin Cities nurses voted overwhelmingly to authorize a one-day strike last week, Ken Paulus sent an e-mail to all Allina employees saying he [...]

[Owatonna People's Press, May 26, 2010] Thanks to a $1,000 donation from the Owatonna Hospital Auxiliary, Owatonna Hospital’s Birth Center is able to purchase ten certified car seats for new parents who are in need of a car seat to take their newborn home. Read the full story on owatonna.com.