Gundersen Health System

Last updated

Gundersen Health System
Company type Non-profit hospital
Industry Health care
Founded La Crosse, Wisconsin (1902)
Founder Adolf Gundersen, MD
Headquarters
La Crosse, Wisconsin
,
United States
Area served
 Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota
Key people
Scott Rathgaber, MD
(Chairman and CEO)
Number of employees
7,621 [1]
Website www.gundersenhealth.org

Gundersen Health System (Gundersen Health) is a comprehensive non-profit health system based in La Crosse, Wisconsin. [2] The system includes multi-specialty group medical practices, a teaching hospital, regional community clinics, affiliate hospitals and clinics, behavioral health services, vision centers, pharmacies, and air and ground ambulances. [3]

Contents

Gundersen Health's flagship hospital, Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center, is located in La Crosse and is a teaching hospital with 325 beds and a Level II Trauma and Emergency Center. The hospital received Healthgrades America's 50 Best Hospitals recognition in 2015 and 2017 placing it in the top 1% nationally. [4] [5] [6] Additional awards include receiving the Healthgrades Distinguished Hospital Award-Clinical Excellence recognition eight years in a row from 2008 to 2015. [7] From 2022-2024, Healthgrades awarded the medical center the Outstanding Patient Experience Award. [8]

Gundersen Lutheran is also a designated academic campus for the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. [9] [1]

History

Adolf Gundersen, who arrived in 1891 from Norway, was the founder of Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center. Gundersen graduated from University of Oslo. In 1893 he married Helga Isaksaetre, with whom he had eight children. Four of the sons, Gunnar, Alf, Sigurd B. Sr. and Thorolf, joined their father in his first clinic, which opened in 1930 on the outskirts of the city. In 1944, three of the physician sons created Gundersen Medical Foundation, now known as Gundersen Medical Foundation. [10] At the time, the work of the foundation helped attract specialists and sub-specialists from universities and large cities across the nation. [11]

Continued growth led to the expansion of the Gundersen campus on the city's south side including the construction of the main hospital, clinic, Founders Building, East Building, Inpatient Behavioral Health Center, and more.

In 1995, Gundersen Clinic and Lutheran Hospital-La Crosse formed Gundersen Lutheran, Inc. Later, in 2013 the organization was renamed Gundersen Health System to reflect growth outside of the traditional service area and to provide simplified branding of properties and services. [6] [12]

In 2011, the health system launched construction on the Legacy Building, a 430,000 square foot trauma and urgent care center at a cost of nearly $200 million. [13] With a patient centered designed, all rooms in the new facility are private occupancy. Completed in early 2014, the Legacy Building is Gundersen's fifth LEED certified facility and 93% of all material used in the construction were recycled. [14]

Receiving national attention in late 2014, Gundersen Health System became the first energy-independent hospital system in the country. [15]

Medical operations

Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center is the designated Western Academic Campus for the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

In 2013, Gundersen had 13,252 admissions, 1,437 births, and 20,842 emergency and trauma center visits. In total, the hospital and clinic saw 1,272,522 outpatient visits. [1] Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center is an ACS verified Level II Trauma Center. There are approximately 6,316 employees, and 434 physicians and 259 physician assistants and nurse practitioners on staff. [11]

Accomplishments

Gundersen Health received the Healthgrades America's 50 Best Hospitals designation in 2014, 2015 and 2016 placing the system among the top 1 percent of hospitals nationwide. [6] Other achievements include Healthgrades Five Stars excellence awards in Cardiac Care, Coronary Intervention, Orthopaedic Surgery, Spine Surgery, Pulmonary Care, General Surgery Gastrointestinal (GI) Care, and Critical Care. [7]

End-of-life planning

In 1991, leaders of Gundersen pioneered the development and testing of an improved model of end-of-life planning and decision making. [16] It was unique in the fact that professional, trained staff assisted patients and community members on end-of-life planning. Today, some 96% of people who die in La Crosse have an advance directive or similar documentation, whereas nationally only 30% of adults have similar plans. [17] [18] [19]

Lessons learned from the project have been developed into a comprehensive curriculum that has become known as Gundersen Health System's Respecting Choices Organization & Community Advance Care Planning Course. Today, it uses an evidence-based model to communicate patient's wishes for care, treatment, or services before and at the end of life. [20] Respecting Choices is internationally recognized and provides training and consultation to organizations and communities around the world. [20] In 2014, it was announced the European Union was funding an $8.5 million study, which will take place over five years using Gundersen Health's "Respecting Choices" program as its model. [21] Other nations including Australia, Singapore, Canada, and states across America have adopted similar programs.

During the inaugural National Share the Experience Summit on September 7, 2016, Respecting Choices leaders announced the program's transition from Gundersen Health System to the Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC) under a long-term agreement. [22] Patients, partners, staffers and the public in general will continue to receive core Respecting Choices services under the partnership, as well as realizing additional benefits from other opportunities, C-TAC and Gundersen officials said. [22] [23] Almost all of Respecting Choices staffers and certain key leaders will move from offices on Gundersen's La Crosse campus to another location in the city, although staffers will be C-TAC employees. [22] "The mission and the content will be moving, but the program will remain the same", says Bud Hammes, director of Medical Humanities and Respecting Choices at Gundersen Health System and one of the inventors of the advance-care planning program. [22]

Environmental efforts

In 2014, Gundersen Health System became the first energy-independent hospital in the country. [15] [24] Through the Gundersen Envision program founded in 2008, the system has invested nearly $30 million in renewable energy projects including biogas, geothermal, landfill gas-to-energy, solar, wind, and more resulting in annual savings of nearly $2 million. [25] Project partnerships in renewable energy efforts include Organic Valley, Dane County, La Crosse County and numerous farms across the Midwest. [26] [27]

Locations

Gundersen Health System in Onalaska, Wisconsin Gundersen Health System.jpg
Gundersen Health System in Onalaska, Wisconsin
Gundersen Health System next to Tomah Health in Tomah, Wisconsin Gundersen Health Systems and Tomah Health.jpg
Gundersen Health System next to Tomah Health in Tomah, Wisconsin

Gundersen Health System has locations in 19 counties throughout western Wisconsin, northeastern Iowa and southeastern Minnesota. The network's sprawling flagship campus is located on the south side of La Crosse, Wisconsin. On June 1, 2022, Gundersen announced its intention to merge with the Green Bay-based Bellin Health. Their merger was completed December 1, 2022. [28]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Crosse, Wisconsin</span> City in Wisconsin, United States

La Crosse is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of La Crosse County. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's population as of the 2020 census was 52,680. The city forms the core of and is the principal city in the La Crosse–Onalaska Metropolitan Area, which includes all of La Crosse County and Houston County, Minnesota, with a population of 139,627.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stanford University Medical Center</span> Private hospital affiliated with Stanford University School of Medicine

Stanford University Medical Center is a medical complex which includes Stanford Health Care and Stanford Children's Health. It is consistently ranked as one of the best hospitals in the United States and serves as a teaching hospital for the Stanford University School of Medicine. In 2022–23, it was ranked by the US News as the 3rd-best hospital in California and 10th-best in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mayo Clinic Hospital (Rochester)</span> Hospital in Minnesota, United States

The Mayo Clinic Hospital – Rochester is a 2,059-bed teaching hospital located in Rochester, Minnesota. It comprises the Saint Marys Campus with its Mayo Eugenio Litta Children's Hospital, as well as its Methodist Campus, forming an integral part of the Mayo Clinic academic medical center. Mayo Clinic Hospital – Rochester is ranked first on the 2019–20 U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals Honor Roll.

Froedtert Hospital, located in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, is a teaching hospital and a Level I adult trauma center, one of two such facilities in Wisconsin. Froedtert is the primary teaching affiliate of the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), where MCW students and residents receive their clinical education. Froedtert has 735 inpatient hospital beds. Froedtert is located on the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center grounds, which is a consortium of six health care institutions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center</span> Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota, US

M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center (UMMC) previously known as University of Minnesota Medical Center, is a 1700-bed non-profit, tertiary, research and academic medical center located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, servicing the entire region. UMMC is the region's only university-level academic medical center. The hospital is operated by the M Health Fairview Health System and the largest hospital in the system. UMMC is affiliated with the University of Minnesota Medical School. UMMC is also an ACS designated level II trauma center and has a rooftop helipad to handle medevac patients. Attached to the medical center is the Masonic Children's Hospital that treats infants, children, adolescents, and young adults up to the age of 21.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rose Medical Center</span> Hospital in Colorado, United States

Rose Medical Center is a part of HCA Healthcare's HealthONE network. It is colloquially known as Denver's "Baby Hospital," but also provides comprehensive women's care, orthopedics and total joint replacement, heart and vascular care, weight-loss treatment, cancer care, surgical services, internal medicine and emergency care. An acute care hospital with 422 licensed beds, Rose cares for more than 160,000 patients annually with a team of 1,300 full-time employees, 100 volunteers and more than 1,200 physicians. The medical center is a Level IV trauma center. Casey Guber is the President and chief executive officer.

Advocate Sherman Hospital is a hospital located in Elgin, Illinois. It contains 255 beds, and is one of the most premier regional hospitals in the country, specializing in heart surgeries. It is ranked "high performing" in dealing with heart failure by U.S. News. It performs more cardiac procedures than any other hospital in Kane, McHenry, DuPage, Lake and Will counties. Other services include a level II trauma center, cancer care services, diabetes center, orthopedic care and the birthing center with a neonatal intensive care nursery. The hospital is a part of Advocate Aurora Health.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health</span> Medical school in the United States

The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (UWSMPH) is a professional school for the study of medicine and public health at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. It is one of only two medical schools in Wisconsin, along with the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, and the only public one.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franciscan Skemp Medical Center</span> Hospital in Wisconsin, United States

Mayo Clinic Health System La Crosse Hospital is one of the two hospitals in La Crosse, Wisconsin. This hospital is part of the Mayo Clinic Health System This hospital has 68 acute care beds, a labor and delivery unit, an emergency department and an Intensive Care Unit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UW Health University Hospital</span> Hospital in Wisconsin, United States

UW Health University Hospital is a 614-bed academic regional referral center with 127 outpatient clinics, located on the western edge of the University of Wisconsin–Madison's campus in Madison, Wisconsin. It is an American College of Surgeons designated Level I adult and pediatric trauma center, one of only two in Wisconsin.

Banner Health is a non-profit health system in the United States, based in Phoenix, Arizona. It operates 30 hospitals and several specialized facilities across 6 states. The health system is the largest employer in Arizona and one of the largest in the United States with over 50,000 employees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Clara Valley Medical Center</span> Hospital in California, United States

Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, commonly known as Valley Medical Center or simply Valley Medical, is a prominent 731-bed public tertiary, teaching, and research hospital in San Jose, California. Located in the Fruitdale neighborhood of West San Jose, Valley Medical Center is the anchor facility of the Santa Clara County Health System, serving Santa Clara County. Valley Medical is home to numerous innovative research and care centers, such as the Rehabilitation Trauma Center, the only federally-designated spinal cord injury center in Northern California.

Adolf Gundersen was a Norwegian born, American physician and founder of Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center.

Augusta University Health is an academic health center that manages the clinical operations associated with Augusta University. It is a health care network that offers primary, specialty and sub-specialty care in the Augusta, Georgia area and throughout the Southeastern United States.

Mayo Clinic Health System is a system of community-based medical facilities. It is owned by Mayo Clinic and was founded in 1992. The organization focuses on providing medical care in rural communities in Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. As of 2022, its facilities include 16 hospitals, 53 multispecialty clinics and one mobile health clinic. The President of Mayo Clinic Health System is Prathibha Varkey.

Atlantic Health System is one of the largest non-profit health care networks in New Jersey. It employs 18,000 people and more than 4,800 affiliated physicians. The system offers more than 400 sites of care, including six hospitals: Chilton Medical Center, Goryeb Children’s Hospital, Hackettstown Medical Center, Morristown Medical Center, Newton Medical Center and Overlook Medical Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reading Hospital</span> Hospital in Pennsylvania, U.S.

Reading Hospital is a 738-bed non-profit teaching hospital located in West Reading, Pennsylvania. The hospital was established in 1867 and is the anchor institution of Tower Health.

Bellin Health System is a health care service headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Bellin Health serves northeastern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital is a rural teaching hospital in Sayre, Pennsylvania. It was founded as Robert Packer Hospital in 1885, making it the oldest hospital in the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania and New York. The hospital is a primary stroke center and level I trauma center. It has received numerous awards, including being named one of the Truven Top 50 Cardiovascular Hospitals 10 times since 2001, "America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Coronary Intervention" by HealthGrades in 2017, 2018, and 2019 and receiving a Bariatric Surgery Excellence Award in 2019. It has also received a Center of Distinction Award for wound care and hyperbarics in 2018.

Jefferson Torresdale Hospital is a non-profit hospital in the Jefferson Health Northeast system, a multi-state non-profit health system now a part of Jefferson Health. The hospital serve as a general hospital of Aria-Jefferson Health and is a Level II trauma center. The hospital contains a helipad for transport.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Our System - Gundersen Health System". www.gundersenhealth.org.
  2. ↑ "Our System - Gundersen Health System". www.gundersenhealth.org. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  3. ↑ "Gundersen Health System". www.gundersenhealth.org.
  4. ↑ "Healthgrades: Gundersen among America's 50 Best Hospitals - Gundersen Health System". www.gundersenhealth.org. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  5. ↑ "Healthgrades America's Best Hospitals™ - 2015". www.healthgrades.com. May 18, 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 "Gundersen Health System Newsroom - Gundersen Health System". www.gundersenhealth.org.
  7. 1 2 "Gundersen Accomplishments - Gundersen Health System". www.gundersenhealth.org.
  8. ↑ "Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center - La Crosse, WI | Healthgrades". www.healthgrades.com. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
  9. ↑ "Statewide Campus". UW School of Medicine and Public Health.
  10. ↑ "It's a Fine, Family-Based Clinic in a Small Midwestern City, but the Name Is Gundersen, Not Mayo". Time , June 9, 1980.
  11. 1 2 "History of Gundersen Health System". Gundersen Health System.
  12. ↑ Tighe, Mike. "Gundersen name change takes effect Wednesday". La Crosse Tribune.
  13. ↑ Hubbuch, Chris; Mike Tighe, Mike. "Building a Legacy: Gundersen invests millions in new hospital". La Crosse Tribune.
  14. ↑ Dimke, Kyle (January 15, 2014). "Gundersen's new Legacy in sustainability". WKBT.
  15. 1 2 "La Crosse Hospital Becomes First In Country To Achieve Energy Independence". Wisconsin Public Radio. November 12, 2014.
  16. ↑ "History / Overview - Respecting Choices: Advance Care Planning - Gundersen Health System - Gundersen Health System - la Crosse, Wisconsin". Archived from the original on November 13, 2014. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
  17. ↑ "The Town Where Everyone Talks About Death". NPR.org.
  18. ↑ "Being prepared for the final days". www.cbsnews.com. April 27, 2014.
  19. ↑ "How La Crosse, Wisconsin Slashed End-of-Life Medical Expenditures". National Review . March 4, 2014.
  20. 1 2 "Respecting Choices - Person-Centered Care". Respecting Choices.
  21. ↑ "European group studying Gundersen end-of-life program". www.jsonline.com.
  22. 1 2 3 4 Tighe, Mike. "Respecting Choices transferring to D.C.-based group; HQ stays in La Crosse". La Crosse Tribune.
  23. ↑ "C-TAC Launches Service Affiliate C-TAC Innovations, Which Includes Respecting Choices ®". C-TAC. September 8, 2016.
  24. ↑ "Gundersen Envision Accomplishments". Gundersen Health System.
  25. ↑ "Gundersen Health System reaches energy independence goal". WKBT. November 11, 2014.
  26. ↑ "Renewable energy". Gundersen Health System.
  27. ↑ "Turning cow waste into energy - Renewable Energy - Gundersen Envision - la Crosse, Wisconsin". Archived from the original on November 13, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  28. ↑ Schulz, Joe (December 12, 2022). "Wisconsin sees 2 major hospital mergers finalized back to back". WPR. Wisconsin Public Radio. Retrieved May 30, 2023.

Other sources

43°47′41″N91°14′50″W / 43.79472°N 91.24722°W / 43.79472; -91.24722

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.