Erin Barnett, M.A. a grief and loss specialist with experience in both individual counseling and consulting, will present a talk titled:  “A Healing Journey: Grieving and Grace” on Wednesday, Sept. 15, 6:30 to 8 p.m. in Northfield Hospital’s front lobby. 

           A Northfield resident, Barnett has a special interest in working with people who find their inner lives transformed by their loss. She will draw upon a wide range of experiences, including work at the Center for Grief & Loss in Santa Cruz CA, serving as bereavement coordinator for hospice in Mankato, and consulting with mental health professionals in post-Katrina New Orleans. 

    Barnett’s presentation will serve as a prelude to an optional six-week bereavement support group. The group, facilitated by Amanda Pettis, MSW, and Katie Jacobi, MSW, will begin on Wednesday, Sept. 22, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the hospital’s Meeting Room A and then will meet every Wednesday through October 27.  Both the presentation and the group are free and open to the public. You need not have had a family member in Hospice to join the group. The group will be closed after the second week. Pregistration is strongly encouraged. For more information about the group, or to register contact: Amanda Pettis, (507) 646-1037 or pettisa@northfieldhospital.org.  People may also register the night of the event. Both the talk and the support group  are sponsored by Northfield Hospice.

For the third year in a row, FamilyHealth Medical Clinic–Lakeville will sponsor a free, family-friendly neighborhood “Night to Unite” event for residents across the Lakeville community. Part of a national initiative that was previously observed as “National Night Out,” Night to Unite offers neighbors the chance to socialize and take a stand against crime. The FamilyHealth–Lakeville Night to Unite event will be held on the grounds of the clinic (9974 214th Street West, at the corner of County Road 70 and Jacquard Avenue) on Tuesday, August 3 from 5 to 7 p.m.

Featuring a free picnic dinner, kids’ activities, health and safety information, “No Fear CPR” training, emergency vehicles and Mayo One helicopter (subject to weather and medical need), FamilyHealth expects more than 350 people will come out for its Night to Unite celebration. While sponsored by FamilyHealth, various neighboring organizations, including the Center for Sports Medicine & Rehabilitation, will also be on site for the evening.

Bob Finke, event organizer and clinic manager for FamilyHealth Medical Clinic, said, “Each year this event has grown and has proven to be a great match for our organization. Not only do we have the opportunity to see many, many of our patients, neighbors and friends, but the Night to Unite mission aligns well with ours, providing a great platform for discussing health and safety information.”

One of the highlights of FamilyHealth’s evening will include “No Fear CPR” training, a hands-only CPR method that is also referred to as “CPR Anytime.” The instruction is offered in support of the City of Lakeville’s Heart Restart! initiative, a program to train 14,000 residents in a specific series of actions that can increase the survival rate of sudden cardiac arrest victims.

For more information about the event, call the clinic at 952-469-0500 or visit familyhealthclinics.org/lakeville.

FamilyHealth Medical Clinic, with locations in Lakeville, Farmington, Northfield and Lonsdale, is a service of Northfield Hospital & Clinics. Physician services are provided by Cannon Valley Clinic-Mayo Health System and other premier regional providers. Northfield Hospital & Clinics offers area residents easy access to a broad menu of services, including primary and specialty clinics and rehabilitation services.

Northfield Hospital & Clinics will commemorate its 100 years of service to the Northfield community with a three-mile historical walk Saturday morning, Aug. 14. The event will benefit HealthFinders Collaborative, a local health care collaborative serving uninsured and under-insured residents of Rice County.

“For 100 years, Northfield Hospital & Clinics has been providing quality healthcare services to the community,” said Mark Henke, President and CEO of Northfield Hospital & Clinics. “We also recognize the vital role HealthFinders plays in our community and we are pleased to use this event to highlight the important service they provide.”

Walkers will meet at Eighth and Water, the site of the first Northfield Hospital, at 9 a.m. and then walk to Way Park, the site of the 1939 hospital. After a brief rest, they will complete the historical trail by walking to the new hospital at 2000 North Avenue, where there will be refreshments and music.

There is no fee for the walk and no registration is required. Everyone is invited to come and join in. Transportation will be available to bring people back to the downtown from the hospital after the walk, or walkers are invited to make their own arrangements.

HealthFinders will be selling T-shirts and accepting donations at the event to raise funds for its general operations. Ellen Unruh, HealthFinders board chair, said in these lean times, it critical that HealthFinders keeps its clinic open.

“The Northfield Hospital has always been a key partner for HealthFinders and we are grateful to benefit from this celebratory event,” Unruh said.

For more information, go to www.healthfindersmn.org.

           Mayo Clinic has expanded its cardiovascular care in Northfield with the establishment of a Mayo Clinic Heart Clinic on the Northfield Hospital campus.

Mayo Clinic cardiologists are now available to patients every day of the week either through on-site visits from cardiologists or through telemedicine, a remote audio and video connection between a patient at the local clinic and a Mayo Clinic-based cardiologist.

“Through outreach programs like this relationship with Northfield Hospital & Clinics, patients are able to access Mayo Clinic care closer to home, saving on travel expense and time, while receiving high-quality care from their primary physician and Mayo Clinic staff,” says R. Scott Wright, M.D., director of outreach for Mayo’s Department of Medicine.

The service is designed for established Mayo Clinic patients or first-time patients who are seeking a second opinion, or for those referred by local physicians for diagnosis or treatment of a complex cardiac condition. A patient returns to his or her primary care provider for follow-up care, which is closely coordinated with the Mayo Clinic cardiologist as necessary.

Mayo Clinic cardiologists have been traveling to Northfield from Rochester since 2008. With the expansion of the cardiac outreach service, Mayo Clinic designated the site a heart clinic and adopted the name Mayo Clinic Heart Clinic in March. 2010.

 Mark Henke, president and CEO of Northfield Hospital & Clinics, said expanded cardiology services in Northfield will be a benefit to patients.

“This will provide greater access and more convenient access for patients who need this type of care,” Henke said. “The use of telemedicine is an efficient, less costly method of delivering care, and it holds great promise for more applications down the road.”

Patients will be able to make an appointment directly through FamilyHealth or be referred by their primary physician. Mayo Clinic cardiologists are committed to working closely with a patient’s primary provider for close coordination of care. Patients with problems such as cardiac rhythm disorders or other complications may benefit from further evaluation and management at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

Northfield Hospital & Clinics’ 2009 Annual Report is now available on our website. Highlights include:

• Hospital continues to grow and thrive
• H1N1 pandemic challenged hospital and clinics staff
• Patient trends 2005–2009
• Community benefit summary
• Financial reports

Read the 2009 Annual Report

    The Center for Sports Medicine & Rehabilitation and Orthopaedic & Fracture Clinic will hold an open house Tuesday, April 27, 5 to 7 p.m. at 1381 Jefferson Road in Northfield.

    The event will celebrate both the addition and remodeling at the rehabilitation center and Northfield Hospital & Clinics 20-year partnership with Orthopaedic & Fracture Clinic. There will be self-guided tours, refreshments and an opportunity to meet the staff. There will be a short program at 5:45 p.m. when Robert Shepley, MD, and Brad Wille, MD, will be recognized for their work in developing orthopedic medicine in the community.

     The centerpiece of the project, which began last summer, is the addition of 6,400 square feet to the center’s existing 10,000-square feet. It provides space for a new rehabilitation gym, 15 treatment rooms for physical therapists and a larger, more efficient reception space. When the addition was completed, the original space was refurbished to accommodate Children’s Therapy & Speech and the Work Systems programs, formerly located at a separate location on Professional Drive, and occupational therapy. OFC clinic has also undergone remodeling.

Cardiologists from the Mayo Clinic will conduct a symposium on sudden death syndrome in athletes Tuesday, April 6, 7 to 8:15 p.m. at St. Olaf College, Regents Hall 150. Check-in and refreshments will be available at 6:30 p.m.

Steve R. Ommen, MD, and Michael J. Ackerman, MD, cardiologists at the Mayo Clinic, will share the podium. Their program, titled: “Sports & Cardiology: When to Worry About the Athlete’s Heart” will focus on different aspects of sudden death syndrome. The symposium is designed for healthcare providers, coaches, trainers and the general public. Continuing education credits will be available.

Dr. Ommen will present on “Sports, Sudden Death and Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.” He will explore common cardiac risks to young athletes, how to distinguish physiological adaptation from pathologic thickening of the heart muscle, and screening recommendations.

The title of Dr. Ackerman’s talk is “Distinguishing the Vanilla Faint from the Sudden Death Warning Signs.” He will cover identification of the key cardiac disease that underlies lethal faints, how to distinguish an ordinary faint from a potentially lethal faint and how to prevent the preventable sudden deaths that occur in young athletes.

The event is co-sponsored by Mayo Clinic, St. Olaf College Departments of Biomedical Studies and Exercise Science and Northfield Hospital & Clinics.

“This is truly an extraordinary opportunity to have these distinguished cardiologists from Mayo Clinic sharing the latest information on this important topic,” said Mary Quinn Crow, vice president and chief operating officer at Northfield Hospital & Clinics. “We invite anyone who is interested in this topic to join us.”

Children’s Therapy & Speech, a pediatric rehabilitation service of Northfield Hospital & Clinics, and WorkSystems, a service that addresses health and safety issues in the workplace, will be moving March 8.

Both services will relocate to remodeled space at the Center for Sports Medicine & Rehabilitation, 1381 Jefferson Road. They are currently located at 527 Professional Drive. This will be the first time since 2004 that all of the hospital’s outpatient rehabilitation services have been assembled in one location.

The move signals the completion of the second and final phase of CSMR’s 6,400 square foot expansion project. The new addition, which began last summer, was completed in January. Physical and occupational therapists moved to the new space, allowing for the remodeling of the original space, which will be home for Children’s Therapy & Speech, occupational therapy and WorkSystems.

“With the expanded space and a new rehabilitation gym, this project has great benefits for our patients,” said Judi Malecha, director of CSMR. “And having all of our services in one location will be more efficient for all of us.”

An open house is planned for later in April.

Therapists at the Center for Sports Medicine & Rehabilitation, a service of Northfield Hospital & Clinics, are now working in the new 6,400 square foot addition to the rehabilitation center at the corner of Jefferson Road and Jefferson Parkway in Northfield.

The project, which began last summer, provides space for a new rehabilitation gym, 15 treatment rooms for physical therapists and a larger, more efficient reception space.

“This is a huge improvement in every way,” said Judi Malecha, director of CSMR.

“It will improve the patients’ experience when they come to us for therapy, and the new space gives our therapists more resources to use in their therapy.”

Joel Beithon, a senior physical therapist at CSMR, said the addition has energized everyone at the center. “This addition opens up so many more possibilities for how we work and improves patient flow. It really makes for a positive experience for our patients.”

With physical therapy’s move to the new space, the project’s Phase II is underway. The existing 10,000 square feet is being remodeled to provide room for Children’s Therapy & Speech and WorkSystems, services that now are housed at 527 Professional Drive, and occupational therapy. They plan to move into the new space some time in April.

“It will be great to reunite all of our services in one remodeled location,” said Malecha. “It will be better for patients and more efficient operationally.”

CSMR is planning an open house for some time in April.

Undaunted by the bone-chilling cold, Gabriel Matthew Renderos claimed the honor of being Northfield Hospital’s New Year’s Baby Monday, Jan. 4, just before midnight.

He is the son of Jon and Jess Renderos of Northfield. Gabriel weighed 8 pounds and was 21 inches long. He is the couple’s first born.

Read more about the 2010 New Year’s Baby here.

Congratulations to the family.