Healthcare in Winona, Minnesota
The hospital parking lot at Winona Health will be under construction beginning Monday, April 23.
There will be no parking in the front section of the hospital lot between the Emergency Department, Mankato Avenue and Park Drive. There will be vehicle access for patient drop off and pick up. Patients and visitors will see signs directing them to park in the north parking lot near Parkview Office Building.
Tentative project completion date is the end of May.
Winona Health’s Heather Kauphusman,RN,(left), Department of Behavioral Medicine, and Renee Isakson, RN, Family Birth Center, were facilitators for the Continuous Systems Improvement project transitioning all hospital rooms to private rooms.
To provide a quieter environment, more privacy, better sleep and an overall more healing environment, Winona Health will transition to all private hospital rooms by the end of April.
“As part of our goal to provide high-quality care, we are extremely pleased to begin offering all private inpatient rooms,” said Rachelle Schultz, president and CEO of Winona Health. “The decision was based on patient preference and an effort to enhance each patient’s hospital experience.”
The move to private patient rooms came with a minimal capital improvement. Aside from painting and minor construction, the private rooms were made possible by reclaiming patient rooms that had been used for non-patient care services. There will be no increase in hospital room rates.
According to Robin Hoeg, Inpatient Services administrative director, single rooms will allow patients to sleep better, heal faster and enjoy increased privacy and satisfaction. “A private room is a win for everyone,” said Hoeg. “Patient expectations have changed. Privacy and consideration for individual needs is much easier to provide when patients have their own rooms.”
One of the greatest benefits of a private patient room is that it allows patients to have confidential discussions with their medical providers and sensitive personal conversations with their families. Private rooms have been proven to reduce the length of patient stays and decrease recovery time.
In celebration of transitioning to all private patient rooms, Winona Health conducted HealingScapes, a regional photo competition.
Selected photographs will be unveiled and all photographers will be acknowledged at a special reception, Thursday, May 3, from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
The event will be sponsored by the Winona Health Foundation and include a silent auction of the winning photographs. All proceeds will go to the Winona Health Foundation for creating a more healing environment in Winona Health’s Inpatient unit.
“This will be a different type of fundraiser,” said Nancy Brown, Winona Health Foundation executive director of development. “In addition to winning bids funding a photograph for a patient room, bidders also will receive a print for themselves.”
“Winona Health has been the community’s hospital for 118 years; 50 years in the present location.” said Betsy Midthun, chief communications officer. “This is a special way to celebrate being part of our community and in turn, invite community members to become part of Winona Health.”
For information about the event, contact the Winona Health Foundation at 507.474.3328.
To learn more about Winona Health and healthcare providers online at winonahealth.org. For news and information about Winona Health and health-related topics, like Winona Health on Facebook or follow Winona Health on Twitter.
Patti Volkman, RN, CDONA, director of Nursing at Winona Health’s Lake Winona Manor, has completed the year-long Director of Nursing, Successful Future program and has passed a national exam to become a Certified Director of Nursing Administration (CDONA) for Long-term Care. Volkman is the first in the region to receive this certification.
To be eligible for the exam, an individual must hold an active Registered Nurse license and have at least two years of experience as a full-time director of nursing. The certification indicates that a director of nursing in long-term care possesses a specific core of knowledge in their profession. For example, the exam covers knowledge in the areas of patient care, medication administration, budgeting, State and Federal regulations, recruitment and hiring, HIPAA compliance, Medicare/Medicaid rules and regulations, leadership skills as well as day to day interventions with staff and residents.
“Patti is an excellent director. This credentialing indicates knowledge of regulations, nursing standards and leadership skills at a level above the typical director in this sector,” said Mary Miller-Hyland, administrative leader for Winona Health Senior Services. “Successfully completing the program and passing the national exam reflects her commitment to her staff and to Lake Winona Manor residents and their families.”
Volkman has served as director of nursing at Lake Winona Manor since 2000 and has been with Winona Health since 1987.
Lake Winona Manor is a skilled nursing home adjacent to the hospital and clinic, overlooking Lake Winona. Services include rehabilitative care after an illness, injury or hospitalization, traditional long-term care and Alzheimer’s care.
For more information about Lake Winona Manor, including employment opportunities, visit winonahealth.org or call 507.457.4366.
Winona Health’s Occupational Health Department invites area Human Resources and workplace safety professionals to RSVP for Breakfast with the Experts: Heat Exposure and Awareness. The program will be Wednesday, April 18, 7:30 – 9 a.m. on the Winona Health campus, 855 Mankato Ave.
Heat exposure has an impact on employee safety and productivity. Brett Whyte, MD, Winona Health Emergency Department Physician, and Rick Craft, Winona Health Employee Health and Safety Professional will provide helpful information about heat exposure in the workplace and what employers and safety professionals should be aware of in keeping their employees safe. Learn how heat exposure affects employees, the related OSHA regulations and what employers can do to prevent issues related to heat exposures.
There is no charge for the program, but, for planning purposes, reservations are required by Monday, April 16. A complimentary breakfast is included. To RSVP online: winonahealth.org/breakfast or call 507.474.3339.
Breakfast with the Experts is an educational program provided periodically by Winona Health to help area employers stay current on trends and issues related to employee safety, health and wellness.
Winona Health will observe the following holiday hours the weekend of April 6 – 8:
Friday, April 6:
Saturday, April 7:
Sunday, April 8:
Current Urgent Care wait times are available online: Click here.
The Emergency Department at Winona Health, 859 Mankato Avenue in Winona is open 24 hours a day.
Winona Health Auxiliary will host an Author Luncheon on Monday, April 23, at 11:30 a.m. at Westfield Golf Course, 1460 W. 5th Street in Winona.
This year’s luncheon features three Minnesota authors, all finalists for this year’s Minnesota Book Awards. The authors are Danielle Sosin (The Long-Shining Waters), Mary Rockcastle (In Caddis Wood), and Julie L’Enfant (Pioneer Modernists).
Danielle Sosin is the author of Garden Primitives, a collection of stories (Coffee House Press, 2000). Her fiction has been featured in the Alaska Quarterly Review and has been recorded for National Public Radio’s Selected Shorts: A Celebration of the Short Story, and Iowa Public Radio’s Live from Prairie Lights. The Long-Shining Waters, her debut novel, was awarded the Milkweed National Fiction Prize and is a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award. Born in 1959, she lives in Duluth, Minnesota.
Julie L’Enfant is professor of art history and chair of the Liberal Arts department at the College of Visual Arts in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She has written about various artists and writers, including Dora Maar, Edith Wharton, and Virginia Woolf. Her previous books are The Dancers of Sycamore Street (St. Martin’s Press, 1983), a novel; William Rossetti’s Art Criticism: The Search for Truth in Victorian Art (University Press of America, 1999); and The Gag Family: German-Bohemian Artists in America (Afton Press, 2002). Her newest book, Pioneer Modernists: Minnesota’s First Generation of Women Artists is a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award.
Mary François Rockcastle is the author of Rainy Lake. She is the director of The Creative Writing Programs at Hamline University, and the founding and executive editor of Water-Stone Review. Her latest novel, In Caddis Wood, is a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award. She lives in Minneapolis.
Tickets for the Author Luncheon are $20 and can be purchased in advance in the Glady D. Miller Gift Shop at Winona Health or at The Book Shelf, 162 W. 2nd Street, downtown Winona. Book sales will be conducted by The Book Shelf, with a portion of the sales to benefit the fundraiser. Proceeds from the event go towards Auxiliary projects including healthcare professional scholarships and to enhance the healing environment for our hospital patients.
For more information, please call the Winona Health Volunteer Services office at 507.474.3328.
The Winona Health Auxiliary’s Used Book Sale will be held in the hospital lobby, 855 Mankato Avenue in Winona. Sale hours are:
Wednesday, April 11: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Thursday, April 12: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Friday, April 13: 7 a.m. to 11 a.m.
The sale will feature a great selection of high quality hardcover and paperback books including new releases, novels, biographies, science fiction, fantasy, history, mysteries,cooking, gardening, crafts, spiritual and local interest books and children’s books. There also will be puzzles, videos, DVDs, CDs and tapes.
All proceeds from this fundraiser will go towards Auxiliary projects and healthcare professional scholarships.
For more information contact the Winona Health Volunteer Services office at 507.474.3328.
Beginning Monday, April 2 through Friday, April 20, community members are invited to vote for their favorite photo in Winona Health’s HealingScapes photo competition. The contest is being held to celebrate Winona Health’s transition to all single-occupancy patient rooms this spring and in honor of the hospital’s 50th anniversary at its current location.
“We’ve had an overwhelming response, and we’re very pleased that so many photo enthusiasts decided to share their photos,” said Betsy Midthun, chief communications officer. Midthun noted that nearly 150 photographers submitted photos.
Photos are now on display at Winona Health in hallway connecting the hospital and clinic. Community members are invited to see all 400 entries and vote on their favorite. Photos can be viewed and voted on Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 8 to 11:30 a.m. between April 2 and April 20.
Photo competition winners will be chosen in three categories:
• 1st, 2nd and 3rd place for Winona Health Staff Choice by popular vote
• Overall winner for Community Choice by popular vote
• Grand-prize winner and two honorable mentions for professional Judges’ Choice
For the professional judging category, entries will be judged on technical excellence, composition, overall impact, artistic merit and ability to provide a comforting, soothing atmosphere for patients and their families.
The winning photographs will be unveiled and photographers will be acknowledged at HealingScapes Community Reception & Silent Auction sponsored by the Winona Health Foundation, Thursday, May 3, from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. All proceeds from the event will go to the Winona Health Foundation for creating a more healing environment in Winona Health’s Inpatient Unit.
“This will be a different type of fundraiser,” said Nancy Brown, Winona Health Foundation executive director of development. “In addition to winning bids funding a framed photograph for a patient room, bidders also will receive a photo print for themselves.”
“Winona Health has been the community’s hospital for 118 years; 50 years in the present location.” said Midthun. “This is a special way to celebrate being part of our community and, in turn, invite community members to become part of Winona Health.”
For more information about the HealingScapes Community Reception and Silent Auction, call the Winona Health Foundation at 507.474.3328.
#
Pictured (l-r): Judi Grover, Health Unit Coordinator; Megan Sheldon, WSU nursing student; Diane Passehl, NA; Sonya Kratch, Winona Area Quilters Guild member and a Medical Lab Technician at Urgent Care; Joey Hawkins, Winona Area Quilters Guild member and a staff member at the Winona Health Eye Care Center; and Ahlex Kortsan, RN, (kneeling).
Members of the Winona Area Quilters’ Guild recently delivered 35 quilted baby blankets and four knitted hats to the Winona Health Family Birth Center.
A group of Quilters’ Guild members have made it a tradition to design and sew quilts to help welcome some of Winona’s newest residents. Lucky families receive the quilts on a first-born, first-served basis. To date, the Guild has made and donated more than 250 baby quilts to newborns through the Family Birth Center.
All donations to Winona Health are made through the Winona Health Foundation. If you have questions about making a donation, please contact the Foundation office at 507.474.3328.
To learn more about Winona Health’s Family Birth Center or healthcare providers visit winonahealth.org, or call Winona Health at 507.454.3650.
Winona Health’s next Smoking Cessation program begins Thursday, April 5. This free program includes four sessions meeting consecutive Thursday evenings from 6 – 7:30 p.m. in the Parkview Conference Room on Winona Health’s main campus at 855 Mankato Avenue.
Winona Health’s Smoking Cessation Program will:
• help individuals recognize and understand their reasons for smoking
• cover a variety of benefits to quitting
• provide ways to handle physical and emotional withdrawal symptoms
• share many tips and techniques for becoming and remaining smoke free
• provide a supportive atmosphere for you to ask questions and get helpful information
“Whether this is your first attempt to quit or you’ve tried to quit several times before, this program is for you,” said Lynn Sprain MS, RT, RCEP, one of the program facilitators. “People don’t always manage to quit the first time they try, but with each attempt, they may come closer to their goal of improved health.”
The program is free. For more information or if you’d like to sign up in advance, call Lynn Sprain at 507.474.3324. Advance registration is appreciated, but walk-ins will be welcome as space permits.
Stay in Touch!