Healthcare affects each of us, personally. It affects our family, friends and neighbors, personally. We are dedicated to providing you with the kind of care we want for our own families: Compassionate, high-quality and personalized to your unique preferences and needs.

As we look ahead to our 130th anniversary of taking care of our community — from generation to generation — we remain committed to our mission, vision and values as we remain here to care for you when you need us, around the clock, every day.

We are Winona.

Here’s our story, and keep an eye out for some familiar faces and places along the way!

What does We are Winona mean to you?

We all have stories to tell. What’s your Winona Health story? Share a memory, your experience or let us know why Winona Health (local care) is important to you or your family.

We added Robotic Surgery capabilities to our surgical suites in January.

Many people have heard of robotic surgery, but don’t really know what it means or how robotic-assisted surgery benefits the surgical team.

We invited area media to an open house including a hands-on opportunity to get a feel for the technology and enhanced capabilities of using the surgical robot. We help the media open house so media representatives would have a better understanding when sharing information with our community.

Surgery Staff and representatives from Intuitive (developer of the da Vinci robot) were on hand to answer questions and demonstrate how they use the da Vinci robot.

More about our Surgical Services.

When it comes to mental health care, some people need more than regular visits with a psychiatrist or counselor but not as much as 24-hour inpatient care. That’s where Winona Health’s new Intensive Outpatient Program comes in.

Intensive Outpatient Programs are designed to provide treatment for depression, addiction, eating disorders or mental health issues that don’t require detoxification or 24-hour care. It’s an option that allows people to get the care they need while also maintaining their day-to-day activities. The program is also helpful for people who would benefit from continued treatment and support after receiving inpatient mental health care.

Our Intensive Outpatient Program launched in February 2023. Since then we’ve welcomed additional caregivers to our Psychiatric and Counseling Services including an addiction medicine specialist.

Learn more about local Psychiatric and Counseling Services, now located on the 2nd floor of our Parkview Building.

Connecting Caregivers: An event for the caregiver in all of us, was Saturday, April 22, 2023, at the Winona Senior High School, 901 Gilmore Avenue in Winona.

“I read about it in the newspaper,” she said as I poured her a cup of coffee and asked how she heard about our event. Then she said, “And I thought: This is just in time!”

She was talking about Connecting Caregivers: An event for the caregiver in all of us. The Saturday, April 22 community event was sponsored by Winona Health and the Winona Health Foundation, and it brought together resources from fellow nonprofit organizations across our community.

We’re grateful that we’re not doing this work alone. Caregiving, at its best, is not constrained by location, building or title. We are all caregivers, and this is a community of caregivers.

The event was designed to connect and empower community members with resources, information, caregiving ideas and inspiration to support caregiving in its broadest sense.

Thank you to all of our fellow nonprofit organizations who were on hand to share resources at Connecting Caregivers. We’re taking what we learned from this first-time event to make our next event even more helpful for more people.

Read more about the event.

Our Environmental Services team added two Cobi18 autonomous floor scrubbing units to their workforce. Say hello to Scrub Davilla and Mr. Clean Jr., the names given to the new units by their coworkers.

These units, once programed by our floor-cleaning experts, take some of the work off our Environmental Services team so they can focus on other areas.

If we can find ways to get a job done while also easing some of the workload for our teams and increasing their job satisfaction, we consider that a win-win.

Adding this floor-cleaning technology is another example of how our forward-thinking, innovative caregivers embrace change to raise the bar on productivity and enhance the experience of our patients, caregivers, and visitors.

Winona Health was recognized as a National Leader in Prevention & Wellness for exceeding quality measures and care management goals related to annual wellness visits for our patients.

“Some people only plan to see their healthcare provider when they have a concern,” Kelly Fluharty, MPH, care transformation manager at Winona Health. “We encourage and assist our patients in being proactive in taking care of their health, so when someone comes in with a concern, we use that opportunity to not only address their immediate concern, but also do an overall wellness exam so we can learn what we need to know to help them head off or detect other issues early.”

Learn more about this recognition and what it means to our patients.

Thanks to a grant from the Helmsley Charitable Trust, we updated ultrasound technology used in Women’s Health and the Family Birth Center.

Having this level of diagnostic ultrasound technology allows us to assess and accurately capture or rule out abnormalities and provide our patients with the best care right here in Winona. This eliminates unnecessary wait time and the need for patients to travel out of town, which may pose a barrier to care. On behalf of our patients and community, we are grateful for this grant from the Helmsley Charitable Trust.

Pictured above (L-R): Some of the caregivers at Winona Health with our new ultrasound technology include Andi, sonographer; Kim, Director, Imaging Services; Kelsey, Sonographer; Mindy, Sonographer; and Krista, Nurse Manager, Family Birth Center.

Learn more about our Women’s Health services.

Nick moon, spanish interpreter & translator

Spanish interpreter Nicholas (Nick) Moon joined us last summer (2023) to enhance accessibility to healthcare services for Spanish-speaking people of all ages.

We’ve always provided interpreter services for our families whose primary language isn’t English, and adding this position expanded our capabilities to serve our Spanish-speaking families.

Learn more about Interpreter Service.

Shortly after becoming part of Minnesota’s Roundtable Rx program, we were able to an eligible patient who was facing a $3,000 copay for a cancer medication during a temporary lapse in their healthcare coverage. As a partner with the Roundtable Rx program, we were able to check the repository inventory. When we found that the prescribed medication was available, we provided it at no cost our patient. You probably can imagine how relieved they were, and how grateful we were to be able to help — thanks to being part of this program.

Learn more about the Roundtable Rx prescription drug repository.

On October 26, 2023, patients began using our new self check-in kiosks in the clinic lobby. Registration caregivers were on hand, as they will always be, to help anyone with questions or those who needed assistance with their registration process.

Our goal for for adding self check-in is to take advantage of advancements in technology to streamline and simplify processes, help decrease wait time for patients and reduce paper forms.

As with any change, we’ll monitor and adjust as necessary. We know that to solve the challenges facing healthcare, we have to make changes, large and small, and be willing to lean in and adapt to those changes.

Winona Health was recognized through UCare’s* 15th annual “A Salute to Excellence” for top results in healthcare effectiveness including preventive care, disease management, behavioral health, maternity care, care transitions and medication management.

We were an early innovator in developing and evaluating ways to improve patient outcomes by transitioning to a value-based healthcare model. This means we’re finding ways to lower healthcare costs while also providing higher quality care, rather than relying on a traditional” fee-for-service” model.

“Every person who comes to Winona Health is unique and their needs are unique as well. Our caregivers, whether behind the scenes or providing direct care, are focused on making sure each of them receives what they need,” said Merry Enright, our quality coordinator. “That includes preventive care and screening, care for whatever concerns they may have and, when there are community resources that may be helpful, ensuring that they can get connected with those resources.”

* UCare is a community-based, nonprofit health plan.

Learn more about this achievement.

The Winona Health Sim Lab supports ongoing education and development for all caregivers and is an ideal setting for dynamic, clinical education.

The Sim Lab is designed for our Winona Health community of caregivers. We also have been intentional about inviting EMS and Fire Department staff and the community to use the Simulation Lab to develop skills and introduce other individuals to healthcare careers.

Through our partnership with Winona State University, we share this innovative, technology rich, resource to foster collaboration. Undergraduate and graduate students work in the Sim Lab with experienced caregivers including nurses, medical staff providers, and other caregivers in a hospital-like setting. Current professionals can connect and mentor the next generation of caregivers; everyone learns from each other regardless of experience and education level. In addition, the Sim Lab offers an opportunity for students to experience Winona Health as a potential employer and may choose to stay in the community.

Learn more about the Workforce Innovation Award. For more information about our Simulation Lab, visit winonahealth.org/SimLab.

Matt Baertlein, PA-C Urgent Care

Maclane Bever, CNP Family Medicine

Zachary Cigich, PA-C Hospitalist

Paul Forrester, LGSW, MSW Behavioral Health

Leah Irish, CRNA Anesthesiology

Parker Kelley, PA-C Emergency Medicine

Bruce Kerr, MD Behavioral Health

Randall Norgard, MD Orthopedics

Willa Olivier, LPCC, LADC Behavioral Health

Michelle Olson, CNP Plastic & Cosmetic Surgery

Jessica Peterson, CRNA Anesthesiology

Matthew Peterson, CRNA Anesthesiology

Kattie Tibbs, LPCC Behavioral Health

Jamie Waldera, CNP Behavioral Health

Chad Weaver, MD Dermatology