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Mayo Clinic Health System offers women’s health and wellness program

January 2019
Since 2008, Mayo Clinic Health System has offered an annual women’s health program designed to educate women on health prevention and wellness. In 2018, Mayo Clinic Health System hosted a Women’s Health and Well-Being Symposium at locations in Albert Lea, Owatonna and Red Wing.

Matching clinical care with cultural values

January 2019

Providers at HealthEast, part of Fairview Health Services, serve the largest Karen population in the Twin Cities. They recognized that American treatment programs for mental health and chemical dependency issues were being lost in translation and decided to do something about it.

Embedded social workers connect people in crisis with care

January 2019

Regions Hospital and People Incorporated, a mental health services nonprofit, are each supplying a full-time social worker to the St. Paul Police Department's new Mental Health Unit to help connect people in crisis with the care they need and significantly reduce mental health crisis-related arrests and repeat calls for service.

Teaming up for diabetes prevention

January 2019
Windom Area Hospital works alongside community organizations to increase awareness of the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes and promote community resources available to both diagnosed diabetics and those at risk for developing diabetes.

Reaching out to communities to reduce mental health stigma

January 2019
Essentia Health is reaching out to the communities it serves to help people better understand mental illnesses and help reduce the stigma felt by those who experience it. Staff at three Essentia Health hospitals across northern Minnesota are partnering with other organizations to provide educational materials, organize community events and create speakers’ bureaus.

Mental health training for every community

January 2018

Fairview Health Services has offered evidence-based Mental Health First Aid training to teach community members how to help someone in a mental health crisis, just as people would learn CPR to help when someone stopped breathing. 

Suicide touches families, friends and the entire community

January 2018
Mental illness is just one of many focus areas supported by a grassroots health and wellness movement through community partnerships with Essentia Health and Crow Wing County Community Services called Crow Wing Energized. 

Pathologists, radiologists from Hennepin County Medical Center staff annual North Minneapolis See, Test and Treat event

March 2017
Since 2006, Hennepin County Medical Center’s Clinical Laboratory and Radiology departments have taken part in an annual “See, Test and Treat” event held at NorthPoint Health & Wellness Center in Minneapolis. The three-day See, Test and Treat program provides free cervical and breast cancer screening, diagnosis and follow-up for uninsured and underinsured women – all in one visit. 

Improving wellness in Long Prairie

March 2017
CentraCare Health – Long Prairie is creating community well-being and promoting healthy lifestyles. The hospital’s goal is to provide programs, services and amenities designed to support well-being through the six dimensions of wellness: occupational, physical, social, intellectual, spiritual and emotional. In collaboration with community members, regional organizations, area businesses and foundations, CentraCare Health – Long Prairie and BLEND (Better Living, Exercise, Nutrition Daily) have taken the lead role to help the nearly 24,000 residents in Todd County make the healthy choice the easy choice everywhere, every day. 

Sanford Thief River Falls offers comprehensive behavioral health services

March 2017
In 2012-13, a formal community health needs assessment was conducted in the Thief River Falls area. Community stakeholders identified mental/behavioral health as the top priority. Seeing the need for more and enhanced services, Sanford Thief River Falls Behavioral Health Center and its community board of directors worked together on implementation strategies to address the behavioral health needs in the community.

Improving community health and well-being through employer engagement

March 2017
As an organization focused on community health, reaching out to employers is one way for Winona Health to increase awareness of issues that impact people’s health and well-being. A significant portion of many people’s day is spent in the workplace. What happens at work can ultimately play an important part in protecting and improving health and well-being.

Neighborhood Health Connection promotes community health and well-being

March 2017
Neighborhood Health Connection, a community grant program developed by Allina Health, aims to improve the health of communities through social connections, healthy eating and physical activity. Activities must include a series of at least six events, all for the same group of adults or families. 

From hospitals to neighborhoods, stepping up for mental health

March 2017
HealthEast conducted its second community health needs assessment in FY 2015, including Ramsey, Dakota and Washington counties. Mental health was identified as a priority health concern by all stakeholder groups for the HealthEast assessment and in assessments completed by the three local public health departments. HealthEast took a multifaceted approach in responding to this need, improving access to mental health services through expanded inpatient and emergency department services, as well as community-led, culturally appropriate programs with community partners.

Lakeview’s opioid overdose program: A lifesaving partnership

March 2017
Our nation’s opioid epidemic has been well reported. In 2014, the most recent year on record, more people died from drug overdoses in any previous year, and more than six out of 10 of those deaths involved an opioid. Since 1999, the rate of overdose deaths involving opioids has nearly quadrupled. 

Baby Café offers support to breastfeeding mothers

March 2017
New mothers and mothers-to-be have a chance to visit with other women and receive expert breastfeeding support every week through Baby Café. Mayo Clinic Health System in Cannon Falls and Lake City, along with the Goodhue Wabasha Pierce County Breastfeeding Coalition, launched Baby Café in 2015 in Lake City and in 2016 in Cannon Falls.

FirstLight Health System inspires well kids

March 2017
In recent years, FirstLight Health System has taken a particular interest in helping kids in Mora, Pine City, Hinckley and Ogilvie become healthier. FirstLight introduced this concept through a community wellness program called WellnessFirst, which has been inspiring kids to become healthier by teaching them healthy habits including good nutrition and physical activity.

Mayo Clinic Health System's health literacy project connects Somali community with care providers

February 2016
Through the Somali Health Literacy Project, Mayo Clinic Health System is building strong relationships and trust while supporting community health and wellness. The purpose of the project is to improve health literacy in Somali families; provide the Somali community with a better understanding of wellness and health; and create meaningful connections leading to affordable, accessible family medical care.

HealthEast community paramedics support mental health care transitions

February 2016

HealthEast community paramedics support mental health care transitions by helping mental health patients readjust to their home environment, manage their medications and get follow-up care after they are discharged from St. Joseph's Hospital's inpatient mental health unit. 

HCMC's Mother-Baby Program supports mental health of new moms

February 2016

Hennepin County Medical Center's Mother-Baby Program combines outpatient psychiatry services; a HopeLine triage and resource line; and a Day Hospital for pregnant women and mothers experiencing depression, anxiety or other emotional distress to offer support, hope and healing to mothers and families. 

Red Wing talks mental illness

January 2015
The Make It OK (www.makeitok.org) campaign, funded by the Regions Hospital Foundation, has brought together individuals and organizations from across the community to fight the stigma associated with mental illness, but the campaign has had no more active or passionate a member than Goodhue County in southern Minnesota.

Falls prevention program: Community involvement supports optimal health and wellbeing

January 2015
Hospitals have long known that preventing falls within the hospital walls is critical to ensuring safe patient care. More recently, hospitals have looked outside the hospital to the greater community, where injury and death from falls are a serious issue. HealthEast Care System has started a broad-based falls prevention initiative that harnesses its existing and diverse neighborhood relationships. A Matter of Balance is helping at-risk individuals reduce their chance of falling and create a happier, healthier, safer lifestyle.

Winona Health's Community Care Network: Improving health and wellbeing one person at a time

January 2015
Winona Health’s Community Care Network has been transforming the care experience for both clients and staff. In partnership with Winona State University, Winona Health developed curriculum to train health coaches to work with community members who have a high incidence of emergency department visits and/or hospitalizations due to chronic health issues.

Allina Health creates community solutions to improve health

January 2015

Allina Health's Backyard Initiative goes beyond medical care to improve health by empowering residents to strengthen their own health. Grounded in a simple premise – that active community and cultural connections are a cornerstone of good health – the Backyard Initiative is a partnership between Allina Health and its neighbors in South Minneapolis. Since 2008, the Backyard Initiative has supported residents and helped them draw upon their own knowledge, skills and cultural values to care for themselves, their families and their neighbors.

Employee safety a top priority as hospitals prepare for Ebola

October 2014
Ensuring that health care workers are safe and prepared to treat Ebola patients is a top priority for Minnesota hospitals. Minnesota health systems and hospitals are doing everything they can to train and prepare in the midst of a rapidly changing public health situation.  

Fairview's Youth Grief Services offers healing and hope

February 2014
After the loss of a loved one, children and adolescents can sometimes become the forgotten grievers. Fortunately, Youth Grief Services, a community outreach program of Fairview Health Services, is committed to changing that. Youth Grief Services (YGS) offers support groups and education for families rocked by profound loss. It was founded in 1999 in response to an identified community need to support grieving children and families in the Twin Cities area.

Hennepin County Medical Center's Taking Steps Together: Nutrition and Healthy Lifestyle Program makes exercise fun and food delicious

February 2014
Hennepin County Medical Center’s (HCMC) Pediatric and Nutrition Departments continue their five year commitment to patient and family centered care through Taking Steps Together (TST): Nutrition and Healthy Lifestyle Program. Over the past five years TST has served over 450 HCMC patients and family members. TST offers community-based, culturally appropriate, bilingual programming for patients and family to work together to develop strategies for healthful decisions at home.

Mille Lacs Health System - 21 Days of Wellness

February 2014

Mille Lacs Health System (MLHS) in central Minnesota knew that its diverse patient population struggled with depression, stress, diabetes and lack of physical activity.

Based on Dr. Deepak Chopra’s idea that it takes 21 days to change any type of behavior, MLHS decided to break up the 2012 Community Wellness program into two parts, using that theme and created the 21 Days of Wellness.

Allina Health's award-winning community programs improve health and prevent illness

February 2014
At Allina Health, serving the health needs of its communities extends beyond the walls of its hospitals and clinics. Allina partners with its communities on initiatives that improve health and prevent illness. Through community engagement programs, the health system engages more than 3.8 million people through dozens of community health education efforts each year.

Fairview initiative provides flu shots to the underserved: 43,000+ since 2006

February 2014
Fairview Health Services provides influenza vaccinations at no charge to underserved children and adults through a community-based collaboration that began in 2006. Fairview’s Minnesota Immunization Networking Initiative (MINI) is a national model for partnering with ethnic and faith communities to help immunize people.

Northfield area Heart Safe Project

February 2014
Nationally, sudden cardiac arrests claim 300,000 people annually. Barely 5 percent survive an event. Immediate, fast, efficient CPR can double or even triple the chances of surviving a sudden cardiac arrest. A Northfield Hospital Emergency Medical Services (EMS) initiative called Northfield Area Heart Safe Project wants to tilt the odds by educating community members of all ages on the signs and symptoms of stroke, heart attack and sudden cardiac arrest and provide the skills and confidence to act quickly in an emergency.

Sanford Jackson Medical Center helps kid and adults Tri for Health

February 2014
Sanford Jackson Medical Center encourages and supports children and adults to stay active by sponsoring the Tri for Health, an annual triathlon that takes place at the end of June. It’s a fun event for kids and adults of every skill level; an active lifestyle is all one needs to complete all levels of this triathlon.

Hospitals making strong progress in preventing pressure ulcers

January 2014
Pressure ulcers are one of the most reported adverse health events. The injuries they cause to skin and underlying tissue are painful and can lead to infection or other complication for patients. The adverse health event reporting system has helped identify previously unknown risks for pressure ulcers, and it appears hospitals are making solid progress in preventing pressure ulcers. In particular, in the 2012-13 reporting, Bethesda Hospital, part of HealthEast Care System in St. Paul; as well as Hennepin County Medical Center and the University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview, both in Minneapolis made significant progress in reducing the number of reportable pressure ulcers.

Communication, education help Fairview Southdale Hospital apply Time Out principles to regional nerve blocks

January 2014
In 2011, Fairview Southdale began participating in the statewide effort to expand safety practices, such as site marking and the Time Out process (a pause by the procedure team prior to the start of a procedure to ensure the correct patient is receiving the correct procedure at the correct site) outside of the operating room, which included applying the best practices for patients receiving regional nerve blocks. In early 2013, a plan was implemented to educate the anesthesiologists utilizing an SBAR approach. These efforts have helped Fairview Southdale achieve 360 days without a reportable wrong site regional nerve block.

Building a culture of safety in the operating room

January 2014
At the foundation of successful patient safety and quality improvement effort is a culture of patient safety within the hospital or surgical center. A strong safety culture can help minimize medical errors and strong support from leadership is crucial to truly moving the needle on patient safety and quality. Dr. Mark Migliori, chair of the perioperative safety committee at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, part of Allina Health, believes a culture of safety is a prerequisite for delivering good care for every patient, every procedure, every time.

Identifying anticoagulation therapy as a key patient risk factor helps hospitals tailor fall prevention efforts

January 2014
The Adverse Health Event reporting system has helped identify a specific population that is at a very high risk for injury if they sustain a fall. Due to increasing medical complexities in an aging population, falls resulting in serious injury or death continue to challenge hospitals and evidence shows falls are increasing across the community. In the past year it has been identified that 90 percent of fall deaths in Minnesota hospitals occur in patients who are either over age 85 or are on medications known as anticoagulants.

Hospital success story: Firstlight Health System

December 2013
FirstLight Health System sought to implement a nurse-driven protocol to remove catheters when no longer necessary and engage staff to ensure they were removed in a timely manner, in an effort to reduce health care-associated infections.

Windom Area Hospital achieves notable reduction in readmissions

December 2013
Windom Area Hospital has worked methodically to provide the highest quality care to its patients as it endeavors to reduce avoidable readmissions. In fact, hospital staff are so committed to improving care coordination that they include readmissions metrics on their organization-wide scorecard. Thus far, Windom Area Hospital has reduced their avoidable readmissions rate from 0.85 in 2009 to multiple quarters in 2012 at or near zero.

Teamwork and communication help Allina Health reduce newborn complications

December 2013
Allina Health delivers more than 14,000 infants annually. While only a small percentage of these births result in complications, Allina Health recognized that in cases of shoulder dystocia (when an infant’s shoulders get stuck behind the mother’s pubic bone) the hospital was seeing a greater need for infant resuscitation and long-term care of the infant, as well as injuries to the mother. Allina Health set goals to improve measures to greatly reduce the incidence of infant resuscitation occurring at their hospitals.

Falls success story: Fairview Southdale Hospital, Edina

December 2013
In reviewing its data on falls, Fairview Southdale Hospital discovered that 50 percent of falls were happening while the patient was using the bathroom. After implementing a staff policy to stay within arm's reach of a patient, Fairview Southdale Hospital saw an immediate reduction in falls.

Redwood Area Hospital works to reduce harm across the board

December 2013
Redwood Area Hospital is a 25-bed city owned critical access hospital in southwest Minnesota. When challenged with the work of the hospital engagement network, the hospital seized the opportunity to evaluate its current processes and implement new processes to reduce adverse events. Realizing front-line staff is critical to safety improvement efforts, the hospital uses the principles of Transforming Care at the Bedside (TCAB) to reduce harm across the board.

Hospitals engage patients and families to improve safety and quality of care

October 2013
For hospitals, providing high quality, safe, patient-centered care is paramount. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), studies show that providing patient-centered care has a positive impact on patient satisfaction, length of stay and cost per case. Across Minnesota, hospitals are engaging patients and their families as essential partners in efforts to continually improve the quality and safety of care in our hospitals. 

Protecting patients and staff from aggressive behavior

July 2013

Health care professionals are committed to providing the highest quality, safest care possible to patients. Yet it is this deep-seated commitment to caring for others that often leads health care workers to endure violent or aggressive behavior from patients as simply “part of the job.” This reluctance to speak up or report incidents puts employees at risk as well as patients and visitors.

Nurse's quick thinking saves infant's life

March 2013
Katie Goehner was born to take care of hospitals’ smallest patients. After all, Goehner was a 2-pound baby born prematurely at Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital and spent time in its neonatal intensive care unit. Even her kindergarten folder says she wanted to grow up to be a “baby nurse.” Her own early start at life helped shape her passion for her career as a registered nurse.

Discharge advocate helps ease the process for patients

March 2013

Being discharged from the hospital can be a confusing and overwhelming time for a patient. They may have new medications to take, new nutritional needs, follow-up appointments, and information to learn about their health condition. Comprehensive discharge planning, one of five key areas known to reduce avoidable readmissions, can help prepare patients to return home and prevent readmission down the road. At St. Luke’s Hospital in Duluth, a discharge advocate is helping prepare patients well before it’s time to leave the hospital.

St. Cloud Hospital nurses use creative alternatives to prevent immobile patient from developing pressure ulcers

January 2013
Patients in the hospital are at risk of developing pressure ulcers, or bedsores, if their skin is exposed to long periods of unrelieved pressure. And for patients who are immobile, the risk is especially high. The injuries to the skin and underlying tissue are painful and increase risk for infection or other complications. Because of the critical thinking of staff at St. Cloud Hospital, a patient who spent 23 days in the hospital with severely limited mobility was able to avoid developing pressure ulcers.

Phillips Eye Institute verification process eliminates incorrect IOL implants

January 2013
In 2011, close to 40 percent of all wrong site surgeries/procedures in Minnesota were related to wrong implants, and the most common wrong site procedures in the state involved intraocular lens (IOL) implants often used in cataract surgery. The potential for confusion with IOL implants is high due to variation in the number and types of lenses available for implant combined with varied patient needs. Yet Phillips Eye Institute in Minneapolis, part of Allina Health, has implemented a verification process that has essentially eliminated incorrect placement of IOL implants.

EMTs Help make Transitions to Home Safer

January 2013

Easing the transition to home is one of the five key areas known to reduce avoidable readmissions and is critical to ensuring that patients spend more nights at home in their own beds. Among the challenges patients face are multiple medications, uncertainty about follow-up care, and coordination with multiple providers, all while trying to recover from an illness or procedure.

A Change in Culture, Principles Support Safer Care

December 2012

by Steven Mulder, M.D., president and CEO, Hutchinson Health

photo of Dr. MulderDr. Mulder shares his experiences practicing family medicine in a rural Minnesota community back when the health care culture was more of a punitive one. He compares today's Just Culture model, which looks at issues of risk and error from the perspective of shared accountability for patient safety and risk reduction.

Improving health in our communities

October 2012
Minnesota hospitals are important members of the community. Not only do they provide high quality care to any patient who needs it, but the commitment of hospitals also extends to their communities through outreach and wellness programs and economic promotion and support.

Nurses lead small changes to spend more time at the bedside

September 2012
A few small changes, initiated by nurses, have helped improve patient satisfaction, nurse satisfaction and patient safety at Hutchison Area Health Care. The staff in the medical-surgical unit teamed up with MHA through the Transforming Care at the Bedside (TCAB) initiative to achieve a feat in patient safety: 300 days without a patient fall.

Time saves brain when treating stroke

August 2012
Maria Perry had just brewed her morning coffee on Thursday, March 24, when her right arm began shaking violently as she lifted the pot. She had steadied herself enough to put the pot back on the counter when her right leg suddenly collapsed.

Pressure ulcer prevention attacks culprits hidden in plain view

August 2012
Vicki Haugen, R.N., MPH, CWOCN, OCN, the wound, ostomy, and continence nurse at Fairview Southdale Hospital in Edina works on an effort that began in 2009 to determine why patients were continuing to develop pressure ulcers, or bed sores, during their hospital stay. Prevention methods such as special mattresses that distribute weight more evenly were still not eliminating all occurrences of the painful skin wounds. 

Everyday efforts make big impact on patient safety

August 2012
For Essentia Health - St. Mary’s Medical Center nurse Diane Westling and surgical technologist Andi Schmaltz, their actions that led to MHA’s Catch of the Year Award were just part of the job. The two were recognized in front of their peers at MHA’s annual awards event for their outstanding efforts to ensure patient safety.

Squash player bounces back

August 2012
Lance Hallett usually works on a computer, designing high-speed packaging equipment used to bag pet food, sugar and seed corn. But on a hot day in July 2011, he was at a job site in Renville installing equipment when he stepped backward onto a stray section of two-inch vacuum tubing and fell hard to the cement floor.

Regions launches program to prevent deadly hospital infections

July 2012

Regions Hospital, which already has one of the lowest mortality rates for sepsis in the nation, is implementing a new rapid intervention program to further increase the number of lives saved. Sepsis is a serious infection that can, within a few hours or even minutes, become life-threatening. 

Glencoe Regional Health Services provides mock surgery experience for students

May 2012
In May, students from Glencoe-Silver Lake High School’s health care careers class experienced a mock surgery at Glencoe Regional Health Services (GRHS). To start, GRHS staff members discussed the importance of infection control practices with the students. Students then applied this knowledge by washing their hands and dressing in surgical attire, donning gowns, masks, hats and booties.

Wiping out hospital-acquired bloodstream infections

May 2012

It's a problem throughout the country that Regions Hospitals has been on a mission to eliminate within its facility: Central line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI's). These infections occur in people who have a narrow long catheter, or central line, inserted in a large vein so that the tip lies near the heart.