The Riverview Healthcare Association held its 121st Annual Meeting and Membership Banquet Monday, Jan. 28th at the University of Minnesota-Crookston. The evening was a celebration of a successful 2018, with a total margin of 2 percent reported for the year, and an exciting look at the future Hospital and Clinic Replacement Project, titled “RiverView 2020: Our Vision is Clear’’.
RiverView President/CEO Carrie Michalski presented an outline of the building project. The new, two-story facility will consist of 81,000 square feet. The top floor, with a view of the Red Lake River on the east and Castle Park on the west, will house a patient-centered, family-inclusive Inpatient Unit with 21 patient rooms and four family suites.
The ground level will be home to all three of RiverView’s current Crookston clinics consolidated into one large clinic with one entrance and a registration area just steps from the front door. The new clinic will have 47 patient exam rooms, patient education rooms, and well-equipped spaces for in-clinic procedures.
The facility will also include other amenities, including a meditation chapel, lobby café, relocated gift shop, and an 80 occupant training and conference center.
“RiverView will be returning to its river view,’’ Michalski reported of the plans to have the main entrance once again face the river, as the main building did in 1957. “The Red Lake River is a beautiful amenity for our community and we have worked diligently in the planning to maximize our campus exposure to the river.’’
The process of planning a state-of-the-art facility took several years and included focus groups made up of community members and front-line care staff who work with patients on a daily basis. Surveys were completed, mock-up rooms were built, tours of other facilities were taken, and, of course, financial aspects were scrutinized. Representatives from the accounting firm Clifton, Larson, Allen reported on the conservative approach RiverView took in planning for the project.
“This project is a feasible project,’’ stated Matt Borchardt, principal, CPA with Clifton, Larson, Allen. “The RiverView management team was incredibly thoughtful of what they were going to spend money on. They wanted to focus on spending money on the future of healthcare here in Crookston. They focused on items that work, what is needed. Nothing was really extravagant in this project. It was a very, very well defined project.’’
The project is currently in the bidding stage. A groundbreaking will take place this spring, with a completion date in the fall of 2020. Watch for updates as the project progresses.
The RiverView Foundation’s Board of Directors has pledged to raise $2 million or more to go toward the project. If you would like to be a part of RiverView 2020, contact Foundation Director Kent Bruun at 281-9249 or kbruun@riverviewhealth.org.
Celebrating Employees, Community
Michalski shared some of the highlights of 2018, including:
- A 98 percent employee satisfaction rate
- A second year of receiving the Best Places to Work honor from Modern Healthcare
- Tremendous dedication from longtime employees who retired in 2018: Bobbie Amiot, 45 years; Laurie Steer, 42 years; Linda Bahls, 41 years; Bev Johnson, 32 years; Mary Hinkley, 31 years; Joyce Peterson, Dr. David Peterson and Dawn Jackson, all 15 years; Dr. Steven Schultz, 11 years; and Lonna Newman, 9 years.
- The Joint Commission’s National Quality approval and the Minnesota Department of Health’s certification of Health Care Home
- The Centers for Disease Control’s recognition of the Prevent Type 2 Diabetes program
- A fourth physician joining RiverView through the Physician Recruiting Program; Dr. Mark Ghaida will join RiverView’s Orthopaedics Team in February
- The addition of new providers: Dr. Maneesh Kanal, Internal Medicine; Monica Wells, NP in Orthopaedics and Spine; Dr. Samy Heshmat and Dr. Eric Schommer, both in Urology; Dr. Kari Wessman, OB/GYN, joining RiverView full time; and Dr. Beth Staehnke, Podiatry
- The Fertile Clinic expansion to make room for additional providers and services
- Continued commitment to state-of-the-art technologies in the Diagnostic Imaging Department
- The fact that RiverView led 305 community events in 2018, including health luncheons, support groups, concussion testing, free sports physicals, Scrubs Camp, Junior Auxiliary, monthly Food Bank volunteering, etc.
Changes to the Board of Directors
Jenny Amon and Trent Fischer were recognized for their contributions to the Board of Directors as their terms expired. Michelle Cote and Andy Oman were re-elected to the Board, while Kari Koenig and Dr. Erik Kanten were elected to their first terms.
Koenig was employed at RiverView from 1989-2012 as a nurse on the Inpatient Unit. She also began working at Northland Community and Technical College (NCTC) in 1993, where she became program director in 2012 of the Mobility Nursing Program. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing from the College of St. Scholastica and a Master’s Degree in Nursing Education from Minnesota State University, Moorhead.
A Warroad native, Koenig and her husband, Joe, reside in Crookston. They have four children. “For many years, I was able to maintain a call position at RiverView, while continuing with my primary job at NCTC. With added program director responsibilities in 2012, I was not able to maintain this position and also found it necessary to assign my student clinical groups at RiverView to another faculty member,’’ Koenig shared. “Many people have since heard me say how much I miss patient care and the RiverView community and that I would like to find a way to give back to RiverView in the future. The opportunity to serve on the Board will allow me a chance to be a part of an organization I believe in and support. I feel my long-term nursing career, background with RiverView, experience with nursing education and my current leadership role will provide me with the tools needed to contribute to the association.’’
Dr. Erik Kanten has been a member of RiverView’s medical staff since 1988, and recently served as a member of the Board of Directors from 2000-2010. Originally from Milan, MN, Dr. Kanten received his medical degree from the University of Minnesota and completed his residency in family practice through the University of North Dakota.
Other members of the Board are Tim Brinkman, Michelle Cote, Grant Gunderson, Stephanie Harbott, Dr. Steven Schultz, Michelle Snyder and Shannon Stassen.
