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Our invocation was offered by Keith Olson, after which we recited the Four Way Test. It was announced that only Zack Stack and Wally Cole showed up to pick up debris on Highway 210 heading west out of town on June 2nd; they probably completed a little over half of our obligation. It should take less than an hour if we can get a few more hands to show up Thursday evening, July 16th, at 6:00 p.m. to finish the job. This writer led off the bragging, thanking Club officers and board members for their service this past year. Dave Johnsons was very complimentary of the Rounds (thank you!). Mark Bring bragged about his daughter graduating from high school and her plans to attend Concordia College in Moorehead in the fall. Anthony Nordan told us he missed last week's meeting to deliver meals and of the exciting plans Salvation Army has to host young children for fun and games on the second Thursdays of June, July and August from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. Wally Cole also contributed to the brag bucket to talk about the delightful time they had during their daughter's visit from Wisconsin and spending some time at Zack's grandmother's cabin on Fish Lake. Tim Hunt told us he missed last week's meeting because he was with his son and granddaughter, and they made a trip to his childhood hometown - Montevideo. Brian Tjaden contributed for not being able to make the highway cleanup on June 2nd at the last minute and to thank Wally and Zack for their efforts. Keith Olson was commiserating having spent $30 to fill his gas tank half full -- for his lawn mower. Zack Stack told us his 8th grade child, age 14, was confirmed, and Buzz Lundeen concluded this segment of our meeting saying he had received an order for two lugs of peaches. Katie Johnson introduced our program for the day, Kent Mattson, Chief Executive Officer of Lake Region Healthcare. Kent provided legal counsel through the Pemberton Law Firm to Lake Region until he was hired as its Chief Legal and Strategy Officer in 2018. Shortly after that he became CEO. We were assured that Lake Region's goal is to remain independent and not be part of a system. While it would seem counterintuitive to that, Kent told us that Lake Region embraces Sanford Health knowing that 80% of the people who cannot be cared for in Fergus Falls go to Sanford and, as necessary, patients are referred to it. Lake Region also can take care of more sick patients that smaller rural hospitals cannot, which helps to free up resources at Sanford. Sanford is not looking to acquire Lake Region and Lake Region is not for sale. The mission of Lake Region Healthcare is stated as "we partner to enrich life through health," while its vision is stated as "we will create an exceptional, innovative, and personal healthcare experience that allows people to excel and our communities to thrive." Any decision made has to align with the system's values, which are excellence, person-centered, collaboration, stewardship, integrity, respect and innovation. Lake Region's resources include two hospitals, ten clinic locations, a cancer care and research center, a senior living community, 1,100 employees, 120 physicians and advanced practice providers, being community owned and governed, and qualifying as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Kent said there are only five mid-size rural health care systems left in Minnesota, those being here in Fergus Falls, Waconia, Rochester, Alexandria and Winona. Lake Region's service territory is 80 miles north and south and 50 miles east and west of Fergus. Its annual operating revenue now exceeds $163 million. Stating it has enough of a footprint to bring specialty care to Fergus, he stated that Lake Region has an arrangement with a spine surgeon in Fargo that comes to our town to do surgeries and they now can do plastic reconstructive surgery locally as well. One of the biggest challenges in rural health care right now is doctors leaving for different pastures or to retire. This means that to compete, everyone has to offer physicians signing bonuses that range from $50,000 to $200,000. This is leading to the increased use of nurse practitioners and physician assistants to handle matters that do not require the attention of a licensed doctor. In Fergus Falls, the doctors have their own group with a board of directors but the staff of both the hospital and the clinic are Lake Region's employees. (This is different from how Sanford does it, as it employs all their doctors.) There will be a $25 million investment in a new electronic medical record system over the next five years. There has also recently been $10 million invested in new equipment. |
