Allina News

[Star Tribune, May 21, 2010] For more than two years, doctors knew they had to replace Amund Hendricks’ diseased aortic valve. Trouble was, they couldn’t. Hendricks, 84, was not considered healthy enough this time to surgically replace the valve. All Hendricks’ physician, Dr. Wesley Pedersen, at Allina Health‘s Minneapolis Heart Institute, could do was monitor [...]

[Star Tribune, May 4, 2012] Dr. Nancy Hutchison knows that there’s life after cancer. But many survivors continue to struggle with the side effects of treatment after it’s over: swelling, limited motion, severe weakness and fatigue. Now, Sister Kenny is trying to change that with a new program in Minnesota and western Wisconsin. In April, [...]

[Star Tribune, April 27, 2012] Headaches, lack of sleep, stress — anyone who’s ever had a bad neighbor could probably testify to the toll it can take on a person’s health. But a new Allina Health initiative hinges on the idea that having a really good neighbor can produce just the opposite effect. The nonprofit [...]

[Star Tribune, April 16, 2012] Would your loved ones know your wishes for your care if you could no longer speak for yourself? Statistically, and unfortunately, it’s not likely. Only about three of 10 Americans have discussed their wishes with their families and have created an advance directive to guide these kinds of decisions and [...]

[Star Tribune, April 14, 2012] Allina Hospitals and Clinics has broken ground on a new emergency department at WestHealth in Plymouth. They’re building an 18,000 square-foot building to offer a 24-hour, full-service emergency department. It will be staffed by physicians from Abbott Northwestern Hospital. Allina officials said the expansion allows the hospital to treat patients [...]

[Minnesota Public Radio, April 12, 2012] Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis is one of 22 hospitals across the country being asked to get rid of its McDonald’s restaurant. Corporate Accountability International, a corporate watchdog group that has gone after companies such as Coca-Cola, said hospitals shouldn’t be letting McDonald’s market unhealthy foods in health care [...]

[Star Tribune, March 8, 2011] Anoka High School sophomore Gavin Putt took a pass on a medical screening offered in his health class, Healthy Living, last fall. His teacher this trimester made the in-class screenings mandatory, and for Putt, it may have been a lifesaver. His blood pressure reading came in high — 183/86 — and [...]

[Star Tribune, February 27, 2012] Brendan Loney can’t move his legs, but once a week, he sure does run. “I’m trying to stay as fit as I can,” the former hockey player said, “and hopefully be a good contestant when they do come up with something.” “We used to always say we’re working around this [...]

[Star Tribune, Feb. 19, 2012] Today’s grandparents are getting schooled on the changes in child-rearing since they raised their own families. Prenatal classes for grandparents are designed to give expecting grandparents skills that combine their wealth of knowledge and experience with modern ideas and practices. About a dozen grandparents gathered at United Hospital in St. [...]

[Star Tribune, Feb. 17, 2012] Construction is underway at the Mother Baby Center, a joint venture between Allina‘s Abbott Northwestern Hospital and Children’s Hospitals and Clinics in south Minneapolis. The $50 million birthing center is wedged into tight quarters on the Abbott-Children’s campus. It will keep parents and their struggling babies in need of intensive [...]

[Star Tribune, Feb. 12, 2012] Hospitals are paying widely varying prices for the same implantable medical devices, according to a new study that suggests that secretive sales agreements prevent many buyers from getting the best deals. The report from the U.S. General Accounting Office — which turned up a difference of more than $8,000 for [...]

[Star Tribune, Feb. 12, 2012] Dr. Greg Plotnikoff has spent more than a decade evangelizing about the health benefits of vitamin D to his medical colleagues across the globe. Now the Allina Health doctor at Abbott Northwestern Hospital‘s Penney George Institute for Health and Healing is turning to corporate America, hoping his message will have new [...]