From Left to Right: Sara Tollakson, Cindy Jorgenson, Tim Swenson, Liz Sorenson, Twila Mursu, Kim McCrea, Jennifer Wiik, Rick Ash, Jeanette Felton, and John Thomas.
Ortonville Area Health services recently completed an 18 month grant that supported their resiliency training for the organization. Other topics the LEAPT grant dollars focused on was creating a hospital culture for safety that integrates with patients and employee safety.
Recently, the American Heart Association awarded Ortonville Hospital a $12,000.00 grant that will help patients having a heart attack. This grant money covered the entire expense for EKG transmission software that was installed at OAHS this past November. The software enables the medical team at the hospital to receive an electronic EKG (a tracing of the heart) directly from the ambulance and well before the patient arrives at the Emergency Room. Once the medical team can view the EKG, treatment, stabilization and transfer plans get started immediately. The software even allows us to send the patient’s EKG to a referring hospital so they can get the cardiac cath team alerted and ready to intervene. Every minute we can save in treating our most critical heart attack patients, helps to save heart tissue and patient lives; that is why this grant is so helpful for our community.
No one understands this better than Oklahoma resident, Bobby Joy. On November 8th, 2014 he started having chest pains and soon after called 911. Within minutes the ambulance crew arrived and were able to use the new equipment, sending vital information right to the awaiting team at OAHS.
Thanks in large part to the new equipment, and well trained staff, Bobby Joy was able to come back to the hopital a few weeks later for a picture and to express gratitude.
A GROUP EFFORT in helping save the life of Bobby Joy of Oklahoma on Nov. 8. Pictured from left to right are nurses Melissa Davis, Anita Anderson, Sandy Brown, cardiac arrest survivor Bobby Joy, and EMT’s Barb Dockter and Scott Huizenga. Not pictured is paramedic Maria Wiltscheck. With the help of a Physio Control Lifepack 15 cardiac monitor purchased for the Ortonville Ambulance, the group was able to forward information to the Ortonville Hospital on the heart attack suffered by Bobby Joy.
FIRST BABY BORN IN 2015 at the Ortonville Hospital was Hayden Claire Pedersen. Hayden is the daughter of Jordan & Brittany Pedersen of Wilmot, SD. She entered this world on Monday, Jan. 5 at 6:37 a.m., weighing 7 lbs. and measuring 20 1/4″ in length. Grandparents are Kari & Mike Pedersen of Wilmot and Shaun & Denice Hooth of Milbank, Dr. Susan Andersen delivered the baby. Hayden is shown in a New Year blanket, a gift from the OAHS Auxiliary
Ortonville Area Health Services (OAHS) joins 67 hospitals recognized for their preparedness to evaluate, stabilize and provide emergency treatment to patients with acute stroke symptoms.
In 2013, the Minnesota Legislature authorized the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) to designate hospitals in Minnesota as “stroke hospitals.” Ortonville Area Health Services choose to apply to be designated as one of these stroke ready hospitals and received the notice of this achievement at the end of December.
“Choosing to be a part of the state’s stroke department, allows us even better access to current standard and guideline resources so we can continue to provide the best care possible for patients who present to us with stroke symptoms,” said Maria Botker, Stroke Designation Coordinator and ER/OB Nursing Coordinator at OAHS.
Nearly one in three Minnesota stroke victims first receives care at a small, rural hospital. In addition, more than one-third of Minnesotans live more than 60 minutes away from a Primary Stroke Center. These facts highlight the importance of local hospitals becoming designated as stroke-ready facilities.
“When it comes to stroke, time lost is brain lost,” said MDH Commissioner of Health Dr. Ed Ehlinger. “That is why it is so crucial that all Minnesota hospitals are ready to deliver high-quality stroke care close to home.”
It is important for Minnesotans to know how to spot a stroke quickly and call 9-1-1. You can recognize the signs and symptoms of a stroke by remembering F.A.S.T.
F – facial droop/numbness, A – arm weakness, S – speech difficulty, and T – time to call 9-1-1.
CHRISTMAS BABY 2014 born at the Ortonville Hospital is Molly Gayle Crist. Molly is the daughter of Heather DeJong and Bobby Crist of Ortonville. She was born on Dec. 23at 7:08 p.m., was 20 inches long and weighed 6 lbs., 4 oz. Grandparents are Laverne Mielitz of Ortonville, Gloria Crist of Milbank, SD and Bob Crist of Milbank. Dr. Bob Ross and Dr. Grant Botker delivered the baby. Molly is shown in a Christmas Blanket, a gift from the OAHS Auxiliary.
Sara Frisch, medical student in the Rural Physician Associate
Program (RPAP) has recently started her nine month rotation at
OAHS. RPAP is a nine-month, community-based educational experi-
ence for University of Minnesota third-year medical students
who live and train in rural communities. RPAP students experie-
nce hands-on learning as they care for patients of all ages.
“I’m excited to be in Ortonville and am eager to get involved in all aspects of patient care. Please feel free to say hi when you see me…if I don’t beat you to it!!!” 🙂
Ortonville Area Health Services and Sanford Health Network Scholarship Program announces that 2013 Ortonville High School graduate, Cassandra Sorenson, is one of the 18 recipients of the Sanford Health Network Scholarship Program. The Sanford Health Network partners with local health care systems such as Ortonville Area Health Services to award various scholarships. Cassandra was awarded a $2000 scholarship based on health care career choice, grade point average, application and essay. Cassandra has been accepted into the Swenson College of Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota Duluth campus and will be majoring in Pre-Medicine.
Cassandra is the daughter of Patrick & Liz Sorenson of rural Louisburg. During high school, Cassandra has been active in basketball, Key Club, Student council, concert band, jazz band, pep band, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, drama, church choir and church youth group and honor roll member. She was also the Key Club treasurer, winter carnival senior attendant and Youth Group President.
OAHS and Sanford Health Network Scholarship Program congratulate Cassandra.
Ortonville Area Health Services continuously utilizes technology and other methods to improve patient safety and our newest effort involved upgrading our CT equipment to a 64-slice CT with AIDR 3D.Aquilion CT with AIDR 3D
This CT system provides some of the most detailed images available and they are also designed to keep you safe by reducing radiation.
An industry leader in developing new technologies designed to limit radiation exposure, Toshiba’s CT
systems utilize the newest dose management technology – Adaptive Interactive Dose Reduction 3D (AIDR 3D). This personalized software automatically adjusts the level of radiation exposure to correspond with you and your procedure to provide your physician with quality
diagnostic images.
Knowing the considerations and benefits of CT can help you understand and better protect you and your family’s health.
Facts You Should Know
CT imaging is one of the fastest ways physicians can accurately diagnose a patient’s condition. The decision to undergo a CT imaging exam should be made by you and your physician together. CT imaging uses an x-ray to create detailed 3D or 4D images of organs, soft tissue, bones and anatomy. It is used often for a variety of reasons including to evaluate joints, trauma, abdominal pain, shortness of breath, blocked arteries or chest pain. The benefits of being imaged with CT are that it is minimally invasive and fast. While CT imaging can be very beneficial, it does use some radiation.
Is a CT Exam Right for You
We encourage patients to seek advice from their physician when undergoing a CT exam. To determine if a CT exam is right for you, ask your physician about the benefits and considerations of your specific exam. The benefits should outweigh the concerns.
One way to think about CT radiation dose is like taking a prescription medication. When your doctor prescribes a medication, he or she recommends the optimum dose to keep you safe and help you get well. CT scans work the same way. AIDR 3D can help medical professionals personalize your imaging exam by scanning you at the lowest possible dose to achieve the best possible images.
What is AIDR 3D
AIDR 3D is the latest generation of software developed by Toshiba that processes a scanned image by putting it through a series of cycles or iterations while reducing the initial amount of radiation exposure needed to achieve a clear image.
Fully integrated with the CT System, AIDR 3D is automatically activated with every scan. AIDR 3D also adapts to customize exposure for every patient and every procedure based on your body. The system uses information about your body size and shape to adjust the amount of radiation to be used for the type of CT exam you are receiving. All of this enables the technologist operating the system to focus on obtaining the high quality images your physician needs to accurately diagnose you.
Copyright © 2025 Ortonville Area Health Services. All rights reserved. Developed by Vivid Image
Careers
Facilities
FAQs
Foundation
My Chart