A top performing hospital

The Birthplace, along with the rest of the medical center, recently celebrated the 10-year anniversary since the old Red Wing clinic and hospital came together under one roof as Fairview Red Wing Medical Center.

“It’s one way for us to celebrate that we’ve been here delivering babies for 10 years,” lactation consultant Anne Beckman said.

For CEO and President Scott Wordelman, it’s also a chance to thank the community for all the support it has offered during the last decade.

“I think one of the unique privileges of being in health care is the interaction that (we) have with its community,” Wordelman said.

Beckman called the Birthplace’s setting overlooking Red Wing’s bluffs a “glorious place to welcome a new baby into the world.”

It’s a sentiment that Liz Knapp, nutrition services manager at Fairview who gave birth to her two children at the center, echoes.

“It was a very calming place to have my babies,” she said. But she added that it was the care she received from the staff that made her experience “phenomenal.”

“You could not ask for a better team,” Knapp said. “The follow up that they offer … after you have the baby – if you have any questions, they are there to answer.”

It’s that connection with the staff that keeps patients coming back, Beckman said, whether for follow-up care or just to see their caregivers.

“It’s not unusual for a family to come through and say ‘This is where you were born,’” she said. “It’s not a rarity at all for someone to stop in and say hello.”

For Wordelman, the anniversary gave him a chance to reflect back on what the center has accomplished in the last decade.

“Have the people of Fairview Red Wing Medical Center achieved that goal?” Wordelman said. “Undeniably yes.”

Providing further proof of Fairview’s progress, the center in August 2011 was named one of the nation’s top performers on key quality measures by The Joint Commission, the leading accreditor of health care organizations in the United States.

The center is one of just four hospitals in Minnesota and one of 405 in the country to receive the distinction.

“We have worked hard to make sure that the care we provide meets the highest standards,” Fairview Red Wing Board of Directors Chairwoman Barb Haley said. “This recognition by The Joint Commission shows that work pays off.”

Wordelman said he expects even more great things for the local medical center in the next 10 years.

“We’re always looking to get better,” he said. “The focus on improving everything we do is constant. We’ll stay vigilant to that.”

Tags: community guide, about red wing