Greater Minnesota hospitals and health systems are undergoing the same stress testing as those in the metro – and all hospitals across Minnesota are working very closely together to meet the needs of all Minnesotans.

Winona Health and other hospitals in our area work very closely together and communicate regularly regarding patient needs and our respective resources.

Additionally, we coordinate with hospitals from across the entire state of Minnesota, rural and metro. For example, while our primary focus is our service area, we have taken care of inpatients from the metro as well as greater Minnesota to help out with patient demand. Our ability to connect and coordinate care across the state is, I think, unique to Minnesota and how we work together.

Further, within our community, we work very closely with organizations such as public health and our area schools (k-12 and higher education) to partner to mitigate spread – and we need our communities to continue this effort alongside us.

Our healthcare workers are true heroes who have been running this race for more than 18 months. They are a compassionate group of professionals who find themselves at the epicenter of health care history – which is both fulfilling and also exhausting.

Our core mission is to care for anyone who needs us – whenever they need us – and those needs can change as evidenced by the impact and ongoing presence of the pandemic. This is what we are here to do and we will not stop doing just that. That is true for every hospital and healthcare system in our state.

I do want to make an ask: when you come for care, please remember the incredible stress our healthcare staff are under – and treat them as who they are – your friends and neighbors. We are here to help and we need your help in order to get through this, together.

Rachelle Schultz, EdD
President/CEO

Through this digital column, I hope to shine a light on what we’re working on both internally and beyond our walls in collaboration with other community-focused organizations.