Minnesota Prairie Roots

Look at this freebie pen I picked up at the Orthopaedic & Fracture Clinic. I also got can coolers, a magnet, oval pill box, grip strengthener AND a free ice cream sandwich during the open houses in Faribault.

SOMETIMES I THINK people in my community take local health care for granted.

Don’t they understand, I often wonder, how fortunate we are to have such a wide range of outstanding medical care right here in our backyard?

Take it from someone who didn’t always have immediate health care available. I mean as in blocks, or a few miles, away. Even today the distance to a clinic and hospital from my hometown of Vesta in southwestern Minnesota spans about 20 miles.

Vesta once had a doctor. Old Doc Pete. Penicillin Pete, they called him. I remember him. He stitched up my head once, gave me some red stuff to swab on my ankle when I was stung by a zillion wasps, once plucked a pebble from my sister’s nostril.

But then Dr. Peterson (or was it Pederson) retired or died, I don’t remember which, and we had to travel to Redwood Falls to see the doctor.

Today I live in Faribault, where I can reach a clinic or hospital in mere minutes. For that I am thankful, extremely thankful.

Last night my husband and I checked out the latest in the Faribault medical scene—a new surgery center at District One Hospital and the new headquarters for Rehab One and The Orthopaedic & Fracture Clinic.

It was only 15 months ago that I underwent total right hip replacement surgery at District One. I’ve had several other surgeries there through the years. So I was interested in touring these facilities during their open houses. I was impressed.

At the ortho and rehab center, I most appreciated that everything is now on one main level. No elevators. No stairs. Easy access, plain and simple. That’s important when your mobility is limited. I know.

Down the road, the new surgery center now has its own entrance. No more walking through the hospital’s emergency entrance to get to the surgery wing. That’s a very good thing.

As I stood outside the former orthopaedic building housed in the historic Seabury Divinity School, I was thankful for one more change: No bats. That’s right. The driver who shuttled us on a golf cart during the open houses said he’d heard stories about bats inside the facility. Although I’d never seen one during my many appointments there, I welcomed the news.

Now, if I win the door prize drawing for a free surgery…

Just kidding.

© Copyright 2009 Audrey Kletscher Helbling