| Hospital capital campaign surpasses the $1 million mark and thanks those in support of the MCMH Expansion Project |
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(Litchfield, MN – 3/31/08) The Meeker County Memorial Hospital (MCMH) Foundation launched the capital campaign in 2007, and set a fundraising goal of $1.25 million. The capital campaign, “MCMH Invest In the Future: Your Hospital. Your Care.” will designate all funds raised going to help offset costs of its Phase One expansion plan projected at $26.5 million dollars. The campaign has raised more than $1 million in cash and pledges to date.
The first phase of the campaign’s success thus far is a result of strong support coming from internal staff, boards and governance, physicians, auxiliary, individuals in the community and leadership gifts from area businesses and organizations.
“We need to thank those who have offered their support, the response has been exceptional and we appreciate the donations to date,” said Mike Schramm, MCMH CEO.
“Our volunteers have done an outstanding job to help inform the community and seek support.”
Organizations such as First District Association have taken a leadership role to ensure health care is provided locally. “It’s a privilege to contribute and support the MCMH Expansion Project,” said Clint Fall, First District President/CEO. “Our main concern is access to local health care for our members and our employees.”
The MCMH Foundation will continue the efforts to raise $1.25 million as it moves into the community, the second phase of the campaign. A committee, comprised of: Ruth Sunsdahl, Chris Hansen, Pat Devine, Bob Kopplin, Patrick Raiber and Amy Raiber have been recruited to continue fundraising efforts to the broader community.
“Our goal with this portion of the campaign is to reach the community, educate and offer an opportunity to contribute at any donation level,” said Mike Boyle, MCMH Foundation Director. “More importantly, we want to give the community some ownership in the future of health care.”
MCMH will continue offering community programs to inform and educate individuals, clubs, and organizations about the hospital expansion project and campaign.
“It is important for us to tell the story,” said Schramm. “The expansion project is centered around the benefit to the community and we want the community to fully understand the significance this project will have on the future of healthcare locally.”
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| Beloved Doctor Returns |
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Dr. Tim Peterson Brings Surgical Expertise Back to Meeker
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Dr. Tim Peterson has a different take on what it means to devote one’s life to medicine. Meeker County Memorial Hospital’s much-loved family practitioner moved away from his family, his farm and a successful practice five years ago for one very important reason: he wanted to provide his patients with the best care they could possibly receive.
The sort of doctor residents grew to rely upon since he began practicing in Litchfield in 1988, Peterson spent his 13 years in the community with a keen eye out for ways to improve patient care. When he began assisting the area’s only full-time surgeon, Dr. Dhanush Prasad, on the particularly difficult cases that came through the hospital, he saw firsthand a very real way he might enhance the area’s health care.
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Dr. Peterson realized that one day Dr. Prasad would inevitably retire, and that would mean an end to having a full-time surgeon in the community offering the many necessary services that would otherwise require a long drive to a distant city. The most natural remedy Dr. Peterson could see was to take on the mantle of general surgeon himself. But that meant moving to the University of Iowa to take part in one of the best surgical residencies in the country.
“It was a big adjustment, being away from my family and learning alongside people much younger than myself,” explains Peterson. His years of experience that normally proved an asset now bristled: “I was working with people that were the age of my children and I was finding I had a lot more to learn about medicine.”
But Dr. Peterson wouldn’t trade that valuable, if humbling, learning experience for the world. “It has absolutely made me a better doctor. The contact with those people and patients was invaluable. I have a new understanding of disease processes and management as well as a broadened scope of what patient care means.”
This broadened scope has changed the way Peterson views the doctor-patient relationship. “You take a much more intimate role in the patient’s care when you perform surgery. You have to take into account the benefits and potential complications of the treatment, and these weigh into your decisions and your discussions with the patient.” He considers these discussions to be a form of patient education and an essential aspect of quality care: “it’s your job to help them understand that surgery is not necessarily just going in and doing something very simple; there can always be complications.”
It is because of the serious nature of surgery that Dr. Peterson wants to bring his skills back to Meeker.
“My main goal is to provide the type of small-town service and compassion sorely needed in the health care industry, so that patients can receive the majority of procedures they need without having to leave town.”
Asked what he thinks of Dr. Peterson’s return as a general surgeon, Dr. Prasad couldn’t be happier: “He is a very technical and meticulous surgeon, he had a tremendous practice as a family practitioner and I think he will be very successful in his surgical profession.”
And Dr. Peterson hopes to continue the good relationships he formed as a family practitioner as he begins performing general surgery. “My priorities haven’t changed: make the patient number one, try to meet their needs, and make sure they understand what their condition is and what their treatment options are.”
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| MCMH Invests in the Future
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Expansion and Improvement on the Horizon
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Residents of the Litchfield area have relied on the breadth and depth of health care provided by Meeker County Memorial Hospital since its foundation in 1952. But these last 50 years have seen the community grow and change in many ways. As the hospital and the area it serves enter the new millennium, expansion and enhancement are required to maintain and improve the level of service residents have come to expect from their hospital.
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MCMH CEO Mike Schramm reports that the idea of expansion has been on the minds of the hospital board of directors for some time now. “It’s become the highest priority due to increasing needs in the areas of space, patient flow and patient privacy.”
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Schramm explains that as things stand in the existing facility, patient care is hindered by any number of inconveniences, ranging from a lack of parking to space inadequacies and hard-to-find departments – some patients must make their way to the basement to receive care.
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The Master Facility Plan
To remedy these and other issues and to set the hospital on a course aimed at offering a high quality patient experience, a Master Facility Plan was approved last fall to move the hospital through three phases of improvement. Phase One involves significant building and parking-space expansion. Phases Two and Three complete the process with large-scale internal remodeling of the hospital.
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“This is an exciting time for the hospital,” Schramm says about the plan’s bold new vision. “We are in the midst of Phase One’s 75,000 square feet of expansion now: we’ve already moved structures off of the site to the north and west, and that creates much-needed space for patient and employee parking. Footings and foundation for the expansion will be poured as early as October. Within 24 months, Phase One will be complete and residents will be able to see the enlarged stature of the hospital,” explains Schramm.
Phase One is focused on direct improvements in patient services. The new layout will improve patient flow and privacy. Related services such as surgery, emergency and radiology will all be located near each other. All inpatient services will take place on the third floor to enhance privacy, while outpatient services will be concentrated on the second floor for increased convenience.
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Patients will be able to experience the difference inside the improved facility. Renovated inpatient rooms will give patients a pleasant and restful environment for treatment. The new and expanded surgical, emergency and radiology services will provide patients with state-of-the-art health care with all of the latest advancements in medical technology.
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The Capital Campaign
With these sorts of innovative improvements carrying a $26.5 million price tag for Phase One, the MCMH Foundation has created an Executive Committee charged with raising money for the expansion. Lead by area business people and community leaders, the committee is pursuing an effort called the Capital Campaign to raise $1,250,000 in community contributions toward the project.
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Executive Committee Chairman and Center National Bank President Dave Daeges sums up the views of many of the community leaders spearheading the campaign: “Meeker County Memorial Hospital is a vibrant and important key to this community. This expansion ensures we’ll have it here as a state-of-the- art delivery mechanism of health care for the 21st century.” He sees the building project as his chance to give back to the community and hopes others will agree by giving their support as well.
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MCMH Foundation Director Mike Boyle explains just how essential these sorts of contributions are: “No tax dollars have ever been used to fund this hospital. It’s been self-sustained by patient revenue. Now, it’s important to not add any more to the rising costs of health care. We know the support for this hospital is out there, so we want to ask for it, rather than merely passing the bill on to the patients.”
That support exists in the community for one very important reason: the long-term economic health of Meeker County is dependent on the hospital. As well as being an indicator of the economic strength of the community, MCMH is one of the largest employers in the area, and when corporations look to expand into new communities, quality health care is a significant factor in their search.
Ultimately, quality care for the individual patient is the driving force behind the Capital Campaign and the Master Facility Plan. An updated and improved facility will be better able to provide a quality patient experience as well as attract and retain the best and brightest doctors now and into the future.
Meeker County’s health care has long been one of its strengths. Keeping pace with the growing needs of the community will mean enhancing that health care. If you are interested in supporting the health and well-being of your community, call the Capital Campaign office at (320) 693-4584 for more information or to receive a guided tour of the facility.
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| Meeker Memorial Clinic Open in Dassel |
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The new Meeker Memorial Clinic is open and brings a “family medicine model” approach to healthcare. Daniel W. Schminke, M.D. will be the full-time primary-care provider in Dassel and will serve the surrounding area. Dr. Schminke’s experience will allow him to offer clinic services to everyone from infants to the elderly to expectant mothers; a place where his patients can care for their families medical needs. Area residents can schedule appointments by calling (320) 275-4330.
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| Meeker County Memorial Hospital (MCMH)
Receives ACR Accreditation |
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Meeker County Memorial Hospital (MCMH)
Receives ACR Accreditation
Meeker County Memorial Hospital in Litchfield, MN has been awarded a three-year term of accreditation in Mammography as the result of a recent survey by the American College of Radiology.
The ACR, headquartered in Reston, Va., awards accreditation to facilities for the achievement of high practice standards after a peer-review evaluation of the practice. Evaluations are conducted by board-certified physicians and medical physicists who are experts in the field. They assess the qualifications of the personnel and the adequacy of facility equipment. The surveyors report their findings to the ACR’s Committee on Accreditation, which subsequently provides the practice with a comprehensive report.
The ACR is a national organization serving more than 32,000 diagnostic-interventional radiologists, radiation oncologists, and nuclear medicine an medical physicists with programs focusing on the practice of medical imaging and radiation oncology and the delivery of comprehensive health care services.
For more information contact: Don Konietzko, R.T., MCMH Radiology Director at (320) 693-4502.
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| Health Insurance Counseling offered once a month in two locations |
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Health Insurance Counseling Services
Confused … Got Questions?
A Certified Health Insurance Counselor through the MN River Area Agency on Aging will be available to offer free individual health insurance counseling, answer questions about Medicare and other insurances, provide referrals and additional resources. This service is free and confidential.
Offered in two locations: Meeker County Memorial Hospital and
Meeker Memorial Clinic
When: Last Tuesday of the month from 9-11 a.m.
Location: Meeker County Memorial Hospital Financial Consultation Office
612 S. Sibley Ave., Litchfield
Call (320) 693-3242 for an appointment.
Or
When: Last Tuesday of the month from 1-3 p.m.
Location: Meeker Memorial Clinic
740 Parker Ave. (Hwy 12), Dassel
Call (320) 275-4330 for an appointment.
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| Detect and Prevent Cancer at the Earliest Stages with a PET Scan |
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When detected early, cancer can often be cured. One of the surest ways of detecting cancer at its earliest stages and pinpointing the precise location of tumors is through a PET (positron emission tomography) or CT (computed
tomography) scan.
We are happy to announce that this state-of-the-art technology is now available to you through a mobile service offered by DMS Imaging, a nationwide mobile imaging services pro provider for over 25 years that is accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO).
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