Jessica Gielen

Jessica likes a serene rural setting. She grew up in Hibbing, and missed the wide open spaces while living in St. Paul during college, and now in the south metro.

One day Jessica needed care, quick; she chose NH+C’s Urgent Care clinic in Lakeville. “I felt like I was at home,” she says. “You feel like they know you and care about you.”

When Jessica and her husband Francisco became pregnant, “it was a no-brainer” to choose Northfield Hospital to deliver their baby. Dr. Dana Olson “talks to me like she knows me,” Jessica explains. “To have people really care about me, it’s worth a little more of a drive.”

It was a complicated delivery. The baby was nine days overdue; Jessica’s labor needed to be induced. The baby was positioned face up – which can be painful for mom, and risk complications for baby – so Jessica had an emergency cesarean section.

“The doctors and nurses made it feel OK even though it was a stressful situation,” Jessica says. “They made me comfortable for my whole stay.”

Camila is a “wild and wonderful” toddler now; the family still travels to Northfield for their care. Pediatrician Ben Flannery, MD cares for Camila. Jessica sees Dr. Olson in the Women’s Health Center for her ongoing OB/GYN care – and relies on the Lakeville and Northfield clinics if she or Francisco gets sick.

Jessica and Camila drive to Northfield each week for ECFE classes through Community Education. “We connected with the other moms, and wanted to stick with the same people that we like,” Jessica says. And Camila loves it.
“When something is going so well, we have to keep going.”