| Company Name: |
Burnett Medical Center |
| Headquarters: |
Grantsburg WI |
| Industry: |
Healthcare |
| Sector: |
Healthcare |
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Hospital History  The first hospital in Grantsburg opened on November 19, 1930 - one year after the organization was founded. The cost: $25,700. Forty-seven local residents purchased initial shares in the corporation, and more shares were sold as time went on. Two physicians and one surgeon were on the medical staff.
Throughout the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s the hospital had its ups and downs. In 1953 the loss of practicing physicians in Grantsburg put the hospital on a month-to-month operational basis with the definite possibility of closing. The hospital limped along until another doctor was found to meet area health care needs.
In 1957, stockholders resolved to launch Grantsburg Hospital Inc., a new not-for-profit corporation, to secure the benefits of a not-for-profit hospital for all area residents. Hopes of remodeling the old Community Hospital structure turned toward building a new 31-bed facility on St. George Avenue. Citizens throughout the surrounding area in Wisconsin and Minnesota banded together to raise a full quarter of the total construction cost.
New Healthcare Facility  On an early June day in 1961, the new healthcare facility on St. George Avenue in Grantsburg opened, and the hospital grew. In 1970 a 53-bed extended care facility was added to meet the growing needs of an aging population. In 1985 an expanded emergency room, exam rooms, ambulance garage, and supply area were added as well.
For many years in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s the area was under-served with too few practicing physicians. Residents increasingly looked elsewhere for their health care. In the years between 1988 and 1993, Burnett General Hospital's economic size dropped. In 1990 Burnett General faced a financial loss of $390,942.
A New Era  Determined that the hospital would survive, a forward-looking board of directors turned to Brim Healthcare to manage the hospital. Through Brim, the medical center drew national strength while keeping local control and its focus on the special needs of the people it serves. Operating margins began to improve. A new era had begun.
By 1995 the hospital had evolved from an inpatient care facility to a modern health-care provider of inpatient and outpatient services. Reflecting the hospital's growth, the hospital became Burnett Medical Center.
Time for Additional Growth Now that Burnett Medical Center was headed in the right direction, a determination was made to provide a more appealing environment to the people served and at the same time organize services offered. To meet these objectives, in 1996 and 1997 Burnett Medical Center underwent a complete internal makeover. Many departments were moved and/or redesigned to provide more efficient work areas. Departments that worked closely together were realigned to be in close proximity to each other. A 10,000 square foot wing was added to the east end of the hospital to accommodate a new operating room and procedure room, a larger recovery area, an expanded Radiology department with a CT scan room, a storeroom to house needed supplies, and a loading dock. Existing spaces within the hospital and extended care facility were redecorated to make them more appealing and inviting to patients, residents, and visitors. The building renovation was completed in late 1997 and was a welcome addition to the now thriving hospital and extended care facility (the extended care facility has subsequently been renamed the continuing care center).
A Desire to Purchase the Local Clinic Burnett Medical Center had always worked closely with its next-door neighbor, the Grantsburg family practice clinic. The clinic, owned by Allina, needed immediate attention if it was going to prosper and remain open. After repeated requests by Burnett Medical Center to purchase the clinic, Allina, in 2001, finally agreed to sell. In November 2001, clinic physical assets were purchased from Allina and the Burnett Medical Center Clinic was born. With increased effort by Brim management, the Clinic was reestablished as a viable enterprise and is running strong and smoothly today with adequate medical personnel who provide a wide range of services to the entire Burnett Medical Center complex.
Mission Statement The mission of Burnett Medical Center is to provide compassionate, comprehensive, community healthcare that exceeds our customer's expectations. Our mission, as well as our vision and values, serves as a guideline for daily decision making and represents the principles and practices that we constantly apply. The comfort and care of our patients is a major focus of ours. We want to be your healthcare provider of "choice"--providing expert and cost effective care in a "hometown" atmosphere.
Another objective of ours is to provide education that will increase your health awareness. Part of our mission is to continually put the "care" in healthcare. More healthcare information is now available from our Web site, which also provides patient education resources for you, your family, and friends to explore.
Welcome We welcome you to explore our site and to give your comments by directly emailing us. We want you to review the services that we provide, and to be assured that we are here to provide expert and compassionate care for our patients 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We will continue to grow and adapt to exceed your current and future healthcare needs.
Thank you for choosing Burnett Medical Center--we're the heart of hometown healthcare.
CEO's Message
BMC has great people, a rich history and a bright future. Before I touch on our bright future, it is important to take a few minutes to reflect on our past and what has just occurred.
While I think we all agree how wonderful it is to have new “brick and mortar,” I am sure everyone realizes as I do that the real foundation of any organization…any community…are the people that make up that organization and community, and it is upon that foundation we build. I am sure everyone realizes as I do that the real foundation of any organization…any community…are the people that make up that organization and community, and it is upon that foundation we build.
Our bedrock is our Board. In fact they were highlighted in Brim Healthcare’s most recent Trustee magazine. On behalf of our staff and the entire community please know that we are most grateful for your years of service…for your vision…and for caring enough about our community and those we serve.
Important bricks in our foundation are officials from Burnett County, the village of Grantsburg, and the town of Siren. Thank you for your faith, trust, and confidence in BMC.
I hope you realize that we rely on, depend upon, and appreciate community support. While we are proud of our rich heritage and legacy of service since 1930…this is no cut and run group…we are not content to rest on our past.
I can assure you as we look toward a bright future, we will never take your faith, trust, and confidence in us for granted, as we realize that our patients and our residents have a Choice in healthcare.
Know that we are working hard everyday to provide valued, quality healthcare, as we focus on being Your Provider of Choice as the Heart of Hometown Healthcare. Our goal is to ensure you have a healthcare delivery system that is renowned for quality care that is comprehensive, complete, and convenient.
We have a team assembled that is indeed delivering you quality care and ready access to technological advances with excellent healthcare providers. Providers that offer same day appointments as well as urgent care and access to our new 4-bay Emergency Room, and with on-campus air evacuation. Truly a model of healthcare that you can depend on, that is right here, right now, 24/7.
You should be confident that we are focused on remaining responsive to your healthcare needs, with a total team of smart, dedicated, hard-working healthcare professionals that understand the full range of healthcare and its demands, whether preventative, acute, chronic, or long-term care.
While it is my understanding that it has not always been so, I can tell you today that we have a deep bench on our healthcare team. These talented and highly skilled professionals range from board-certified Emergency Medicine physician talent to our board-eligible and -certified Family Practitioners, to fully credentialed Physician Assistants, Certified Nurse Practitioners and Midwifery, and our many, wonderful, caring and compassionate Nurses.
We have an integrative model of healthcare where providers collaborate with visiting specialists that provide hometown care for those in need ranging from Internal Medicine, to ENT, from Orthopedics, to Urology, to General Surgery, and others with convenient and ready access to these specialists right here in this clinic.
All these services rely on your hometown team of ancillary services professionals in Radiology, Lab, Pharmacy, and Physical Therapy. This team is capable of performing the full range of services from MRI, CT, and complex lab work, state of the art pharmacopeias to restorative function therapy to “Wiihabilitiation” - that’s right, integrating the technology of the Wii with physical therapy.
And our vibrant, healthcare tapestry requires many others as well: whether volunteers or staff that ensures nutritious meals to safe surroundings, to a clean environment, as well as the many “back-office” functions in medical records, finance, personnel, and logistics.
Truly how fortunate we are to have such a beautiful new setting, staffed with such a contemporary, competent team. So what a great combination!!! This beautiful new setting creating a warm and welcoming environment for our patients and for all our healthcare professionals that take a keen and holistic interest in each patient and their personal healthcare needs.
Truly we are most thankful for and proud of our staff - Team BMC - that steps up everyday to answer the higher calling of healthcare. We are thankful and proud of all these professionals that are willing to give of their time and talent and treasure, dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of those that we have the privilege to touch everyday, whether during a visit to our Emergency Room or Clinic, or care at the bedside or within our resident’s home in the Continuing Care Center.
These people make a difference. We know this as evidenced by our results…results we can all be proud of:
The findings of our nationally-based patient satisfaction surveys, with a database of over 1700 hospitals, ranks BMC in the 91st percentile of all hospitals for overall satisfaction.
Our results from the first national assessment of Maternity Practices in Infant Nutrition and Care ranks us in the 71st percentile (that’s better than 7 out of 10)…and was better than both the national and state rankings!
And we partner with Abbott Northwestern Hospital in their Level 1 Heart Attack Program as the first of only two Wisconsin-based hospital’s in this program. What this means for our patients is a national best practice of getting rural patients rapidly to the needed heart care in the Twin Cities…quality care that saves lives!
Of course our efforts to offer our patients a model of care that is focused and centered on them with dedicated professionals, using state-of-art technologies, in wonderful surroundings, cannot be successful without members of our community, each and every one of you, sharing the good news of the care and services we provide.
I hope everyone shares with friends and neighbors your impressions of your visit with us. And let me invite you and encourage you to please feel free to stop by my office for a visit over a cup of coffee. As much as we love stories of our success, and there are many, we listen too to concerns that people have so we can continue to make this great place better.
Gordy Lewis, CEO Burnett Medical Center
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