Glencoe Regional Health Services to open new Lester Prairie Clinic

By Linda Scherer
Staff Writer

Glencoe Regional Health Services (GRHS) will be consolidating its two facilities, one located in Winsted and the other in Lester Prairie, into one modern, up-to-date facility, called the Lester Prairie Clinic, at 1024 Central Avenue in Lester Prairie.

By consolidating its investment into one location, GRHS can offer better quality care to its patients. It will have a certified nurse practitioner and two doctors available, five days a week at the new location. And there is room to accommodate a third physician. Combining the two clinics will insure dependable and systematic staffing, because there will be more physicians accessible and just one location, making scheduling much easier.

The new Lester Prairie Clinic will have 8,000 square feet and it will be handicapped-accessible, making it easier for people to get in and out of the facility. It will include nine exam rooms, a medical record storage area, medical imaging, a lab, and more up-to-date technology than the previous clinics.

The X-ray machine, itself, is being replaced with a cutting-edge digital X-ray system, supplied by Fuji Medical Systems.

With this system, future X-ray exams will be stored on computer. The X-ray can be transmitted to a radiologist in seconds for reading. This technology will get results back to the patient in hours instead of days, as was the case with the old standard X-ray films.

The exposure to the patient needing X-rays will be reduced because of the ability to fine tune images on the computer monitor rather than retake an image due to it being excessively light or dark.

Should a patient require copies of an exam, whether it is a CT, MRI, or an X-ray, it will simply be “burned” on to a CD/DVD type of media and sent with the patient or directly to the requesting physician.

The copies will be exactly the same as the original and will not need to be returned to the clinic. The cost savings in both copying and storing images will benefit the patient, clinic, and the environment for it will no longer be necessary to flush toxic chemicals from the film processor down the drain.

GRHS will open its new Lester Prairie Clinic Monday, March 12. GRHS is planning a grand opening in April, and will be sending out fliers to area residents letting them know the date and time.

The current clinic buildings in Winsted and Lester Prairie will be closed once GRHS has moved into the new clinic building on Central Avenue. All medical records will be transferred automatically to the new clinic.

The following physicians will be available at the GRHS Lester Prairie Clinic: Anne Jacob, MD, family medicine; Dennis Jacobson, MD, family medicine; Kristine Knudten, MD, family medicine; Bryan Peterson, MD, family medicine; Peter Smyth, MD, internal medicine; Douglas Wagoner, MD, family medicine; Curt Forst, MPA-C, physician assistant; Bridey Boese, CNP, nurse practitioner.

This clinic is also a satellite office of Glencoe Regional Health Services, and offers the full range of medical care one would expect from a doctor’s office.

The phone number at the clinic is (320) 395-2527. The direct appointment line is open Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. To call for an appointment, call (320) 864-7816 or toll free 800-869-3116.