Riverwood Healthcare Center is pleased to welcome three new leaders, including Chief Nursing Officer Carla Zupko; Wendy Franke, Director of Quality; and Wendy Ryan, Director of Surgical Services. Chief Nursing Officer Carla Zupko As chief nursing officer, Carla Zupko’s responsibilities include nursing and patient care in hospital nursing services, the emergency department, and surgical services, […]

Riverwood Healthcare Center is launching a new award program to honor nurses who provide extraordinary care to patients and their families. The DAISY (Diseases Attacking the Immune SYstem) Award® for Extraordinary Nurses is an international recognition program that honors and celebrates the skillful, compassionate care nurses provide every day. The DAISY Foundation was established by […]

Talking Tots on Facebook live Riverwood will host a Facebook live seminar on May 19 at 6:00 p.m. called “Talking Tots: Your Child’s Speech and Language Development” with Amanda Bostrom, speech-language pathologist. Her presentation will cover speech and language development for infants and toddlers and strategies to promote communication. Go to Riverwood’s Facebook page for […]

Riverwood Healthcare Center, along with other national, state and community organizations, are leading a massive effort to highlight the importance of advance health care decision-making—an effort that has culminated in the formal designation of April 16 as National Healthcare Decisions Day. As a participating organization, Riverwood is providing information and tools for the public to […]

Fellowship-trained orthopaedic surgeon Jeffrey Klassen, M.D., who specializes in shoulder, elbow and knee injuries and conditions of all age groups, has joined the Minnesota Center for Orthopaedics and will begin treating patients at Riverwood Healthcare Center in Aitkin and Cuyuna Regional Medical Center in Crosby in January. “We are excited to add one of the […]

Gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, is a very common disorder. One in every five Americans suffers from GERD. The annual GERD Awareness Week is November 22-28,2020. Reflux and heartburn symptoms are often triggered by consuming certain foods (chocolate, wine, fried or spicy foods etc.), beverages (coffee, wine, beer, sodas), or doing simple activities (exercise, sleeping), […]

Riverwood Healthcare Center is pleased to announce that Dr. Jennifer Tessmer-Tuck, obstetrician and gynecologist, has joined its medical staff. Dr. Tessmer-Tuck joins Drs. Michael and Rachel Cady and Dr. Ann Johnson in offering obstetric and gynecological care at Riverwood’s specialty clinic in Aitkin. She specializes in high-risk obstetric care, teamwork education and general gynecology. Most […]

Press Ganey has named Riverwood Healthcare Center a 2020 Guardian of Excellence Award® winner.  Other than a Woodbury, Minn. surgery center, Riverwood is the only Minnesota hospital to receive this award. This award recognizes top-performing health care organizations that have achieved the 95th percentile or above for performance on patient experience. For this award, Riverwood’s […]

Riverwood Healthcare Center is pleased to welcome Dr. Tony Blankers, family physician, to its medical staff of 17 primary care providers. He will offer the full spectrum of family medicine, including obstetric care and delivery, and some coverage of on-call rotations for inpatient care. “After getting to know Dr. Blankers and his family, I am […]

Riverwood Healthcare Center has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® for Critical Access Hospital Accreditation by demonstrating continuous compliance with its performance standards. The Gold Seal is a symbol of quality that reflects a health care organization’s commitment to providing safe and quality patient care. For the third time since its initial accreditation […]

A new disinfecting tool is on the frontline of Riverwood Healthcare Center’s COVID-19 response. Using ultraviolet light, the robot-like UV machine disinfects patient rooms and treatment areas with known or suspected patient contact with the virus. Before purchasing the Xenex UV system in May, Riverwood began using a rental machine in April to disinfect the […]

Patients in need of hernia repair no longer need to travel to larger cities for robotic surgery. Riverwood Healthcare Center in Aitkin offers state-of-the-art robotic-assisted surgery for hernia repair using the da Vinci® surgical robot. The general surgeons with the Minnesota Institute for Minimally Invasive Surgery at Riverwood are experienced in using the latest minimally […]

With the birth of each newborn, there is one piece of equipment that is absolutely vital. An infant warmer is used to stabilize newborns with suction of fluids and the administration of oxygen as needed while providing heat. A baby can be weighed and examined thoroughly by a health care provider while positioned on the […]

In mid-December, Riverwood was pleased to host Dr. Ray Christensen, faculty member from the Rural Physician Associate Program (RPAP), for a site visit. Over the past 49 years, Riverwood has hosted and mentored 40 RPAP students, with the first one in 1971! Through the RPAP program, a third-year medical student lives in a rural community […]

Riverwood Healthcare Center is pleased to announce the appointment of Lowell Larson to the Governing Board of Directors. “On behalf of our governing board, I’m pleased to welcome Lowell, an Aitkin area resident whose familiarity with the communities we serve is a great asset,” says Riverwood CEO Todd Sandberg. “He brings a combination of business […]