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Children’s Minnesota Opens New Facility in Lakeville

A Children’s Minnesota recently announced the opening of a new specialty center in Lakeville. The new facility, just off Interstate 35 will offer outpatient pediatric rehabilitation services, with plans to add behavioral health services later this year. The new specialty center expands Children’s Minnesota’s presence into the south metro, giving families a more accessible and convenient option for pediatric specialty care. “We are excited to be opening our newest specialty center in Lakeville and helping more families in the south metro get the care they need, where they need it,” said Dr. Marc Gorelick, President and CEO of Children’s Minnesota. “Lakeville is one of the fastest-growing cities in Minnesota. This expansion is part of our efforts to improve patient access to the high-quality care and services our specialists offer.” Rehabilitation services offered include occupational therapy, physical therapy, feeding therapy and speech therapy. The rehabilitation specialists at Children’s Minnesota use the latest research and innovations to help children meet and overcome the developmental and rehabilitations challenges they may face. Convenience and proximity to a therapist allow families to make regular visits, improving outcomes for treatment. “We understand families sometimes drive long distances in order for their child to work with one of our therapists. A child’s treatment often requires multiple, in-person appointments, which can be challenging for busy families,” said Paula Anderson, director of rehabilitation services at Children’s Minnesota. “This new specialty center in Lakeville allows some of our current patients to get care closer to home and gives us the opportunity to support even more children who need these important services.” 

Sanford Health and NFL Alumni Association Team Up

LSanford Health and the NFL Alumni Association (NFLAA), a group of former professional football players announced an agreement late last week to launce a new health initiative called NFL Alumni Health. The NFLAA, formed in 1967 has a core mission of working with former players and their families. Sanford Health provides a wide range of services that will help and enhance the triple goal of this initiative, which includes:

• “Caring for Kids” a way for alumni to give back to their local communities by raising money for youth-related charities.
• “Caring for Our Own” focuses on improving the health and well-being of alumni and their families by providing personal support services and benefits for life after the game.
• “Caring for Our Community” focuses on partnerships that support local communities.

Successfully addressing these goals involves extensive collaboration. Sanford will assist in serving the health needs of retired players and addressing the concerns of their families. “Our mission is to improve the lives and well-being of the people in our community,” said Paul Hanson, president and CEO of Sanford Sioux Falls. “That’s in perfect alignment with the goals of the NFL Alumni.” Shared work will include elements such as concussion research, repetitive-use injury issues and promoting healthy lifestyles. “We want to create an atmosphere where players who helped build the NFL brand can use our NFL alumni brand to work in their communities and improve their communities,” said NFLAA president Bart Oates. Oates is a three-time Super Bowl champion and five-time Pro Bowl center. Health issues connected with retired NFL players have become more prominent in the news. Former pros deal with football-related medical challenges that can last lifetimes and involve entire families. The bond between Sanford and the NFLAA was established to address those circumstances and the affiliation will include more than just access to progressive medical advice.

Centracare Awarded Mental Health Care Grant

CentraCare recently received a $1.2 million grant from the The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. This funding helps facilitate their adoption of an innovative care model for adult patients experiencing emergency mental health needs and will help with construction of a new facility. Work has already begun on the Emergency Psychiatric Assessment, Treatment and Healing Unit at St. Cloud Hospital and is expected to be complete by early summer. The new unit will provide faster assessment of those dealing with mental health issues and do so in a unique and comforting setting. EmPATH transitions patients away from the sometimes chaotic environment of the emergency department into a welcoming and calming setting where they can be assessed, observed and receive a tailored treatment plan during their time of crisis. “We’re excited to help bring the EmPATH philosophy to Central Minnesota as Helmsley continues to improve healthcare in rural areas across the Upper Midwest,” said Walter Panzirer, a Trustee with the Helmsley Charitable Trust. Kristin McNutt, Physician Assistant in Behavioral Health at CentraCare – St. Cloud Hospital added “With the opening of the EMPATH unit, we will be able to offer a space designed specifically to allow room for patients to receive care with dignity”. Nearly 4,000 patients a year seek mental health services through the St. Cloud Hospital Emergency Trauma Center – making mental health emergencies the sixth most common reason for visiting the emergency department. “The ability to implement this unique model of care comes at a time when we are seeing more and more patients seeking crisis-level help for mental health issues,” said Merryssa Wood, Nurse Practitioner in Behavioral Health at CentraCare – St. Cloud Hospital. “The EmPATH Unit will make it possible for us to provide more focused care during a time of crisis and offer support and treatment that can sometimes be limited in traditional emergency department settings due to the focus on physical trauma or other medical emergencies.” In other emergency departments across the country up to 80 percent of patients who utilize the EmPATH Unit become stabilized within 24 hours. Unnecessary inpatient hospitalizations have been reduced and limited inpatient beds are preserved for patients requiring more intensive levels of treatment.

New Hennepin Healthcare Technology Aids Frostbite Victims

Physicians at Hennepin Healthcare are utilizing new fluorescence imaging technology that represents a major advance in helping make life and limb-saving decisions with patients with frostbite injury and other tissue perfusion concerns. Stryker’s SPY-PHI is a hand-held device used in surgical settings to visualize the quality of blood flow in vessels and micro vessels that provide oxygen to organs. HCMC is the first hospital in the state to implement this advanced technology in an acute setting. “We’ve already realized SPY’s benefits when evaluating exposure patients for frostbite injury,” explains HCMC emergency physician Dr. Thomas Masters. “It may help physicians determine when the use of clot-busting medications is indicated, as well as when it’s not.” SPY-PHI uses a near-infrared low powered laser light source to stimulate a fluorescent imaging agent that has been injected into the blood stream. The fluorescent agent binds to the proteins in blood and circulates through the body. When stimulated by near infrared light, the protein-bound agent emits a fluorescence signal which enables visualization of blood flowing through vessels and into tissue. The fluorescence is captured by a special camera, is processed and is displayed on a video monitor for the physician to review. Since the agent is bound to blood, where blood goes, it goes. If there is no fluorescence, it can mean that there is compromised blood flow. “We hope that eventually it may have applications for crush injuries, necrotizing fasciitis, and other types of wounds,” said Dr. Masters. Unlike traditional bone scans, which can be time-consuming to perform in an emergent situation, SPY technology does not involve ionizing radiation and utilizes a fluorescence imaging agent with a short half-life thus allowing surgeons to repeat perfusion assessment as needed.

University of Minnesota and Mayo Partner with Google

The University of Minnesota, Mayo and Google recently announced NXT GEN MED, a unique partnership that will combine world-class technology, research and immersive learning approaches for students pursuing health care careers. This partnership will offer a one-of-a-kind health sciences education program through the University’s Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences degree offered in Rochester, MN, reducing almost two years from the traditional four-year degree. The program will leverage cutting-edge technology and learning tools from Google that engage students virtually, and will match students with mentors at the Mayo Clinic. “The world of health care is dynamic and exciting. It demands new and creative ways to educate and prepare the next generation of leaders,” said University President Joan Gabel. “As challenging as the times are that we find ourselves in, they also offer us the rare opportunity to try something entirely new. We are thrilled to be working with Google on this first-of-its kind partnership, and we look forward to welcoming our first cohort of students next year.”

UMR and Mayo Clinic have collaborated for more than a decade to support the continued growth of Rochester’s global reputation in health care and medicine. NXT GEN MED is an organic extension of that collaboration, providing experiences for students with the world’s most respected health care organizations. Mayo Clinic is also a top job destination for UMR alums. NXT GEN MED will present students with interdisciplinary challenges that require subject matter knowledge, creative problem solving and data analysis. Its curriculum “gamifies” the educational experience, allowing students to apply their skills and knowledge to real-world problems and positioning them for career success. Classes will blend in-person and remote delivery, with Google Cloud technologies aiding UMR’s innovative faculty to provide flipped, active instruction and experiential elements such as virtual reality.