Working Beyond Our Walls to Keep Care Close to Home
At Kittson Healthcare, some of the most important work we do for our community happens outside the walls of our hospital and clinics.
That may mean traveling to learn from other rural healthcare leaders, meeting with experts, studying new service opportunities, or speaking directly with policymakers about the realities of providing care in a rural community.
The goal is always the same:
To keep quality healthcare strong, sustainable, and close to home.
Bringing New Ideas Back to Kittson County
In August, members of the Kittson Healthcare leadership team attended the Rural Hospital Stabilization Program in Little Rock, Arkansas.
CEO Andrea Swenson, Hospital Director of Nursing Kalie Bjerke, Financial Controller Jenni Hillman, and Clinic Director of Nursing and Patient Safety Jennifer Peterson took part in sessions focused on finance, quality improvement, technology, workforce recruitment and retention, healthcare regulations, marketing, and community engagement.
By dividing up throughout the event, the team was able to gather information from nearly every session and connect with rural healthcare leaders from across the country.
They also heard from hospitals in the first group of the program that are already seeing positive results from the changes they have made.
For Kittson Healthcare, the most important part is what comes next.
As part of the program’s second cohort, Kittson Healthcare will identify a healthcare service that could be added or expanded locally and create an action plan to help move that opportunity forward.
That could mean finding new ways to meet needs that currently require patients to travel, improving access to existing services, or identifying opportunities that help strengthen Kittson Healthcare for the long term.
This is about bringing more possibilities home.
Making Sure Rural Communities Are Heard
Just a few weeks later, Andrea Swenson represented Kittson Healthcare at the Midwestern Legislative Conference in St. Paul.
Andrea served as a panelist during a session focused on healthcare challenges and opportunities in the rural Midwest.
The conversation included issues many rural communities know well: workforce shortages, financial pressures, changing reimbursement models, access to technology, and the challenge of maintaining services in areas where patients may have few alternatives.
Andrea had the opportunity to share what makes Kittson County unique and explain why access to local healthcare matters so much here.
In a rural community, losing a healthcare service does not simply mean choosing another provider across town.
It can mean driving another hour for an appointment.
It can mean taking more time away from work or farming.
It can mean arranging transportation for an aging parent.
It can mean delaying care because the trip feels too difficult.
That is why having rural voices at the table matters.
“Maintaining access to quality healthcare in a rural community takes planning, partnership and a willingness to keep looking for better ways to serve,” Swenson said. “These opportunities allow us to learn from other rural hospitals, make sure communities like ours have a voice, and bring practical ideas back home that could strengthen services for the people who live here.”
Why This Work Matters to You
Much of this work happens behind the scenes, but the impact is very local.
It means asking:
What services does our community need most?
What care could we offer closer to home?
How can we make Kittson Healthcare stronger for the next generation?
How do we recruit and retain the people needed to provide that care?
How do we make sure rural healthcare remains financially sustainable?
These are not easy questions, and there is no single solution. But Kittson Healthcare is committed to actively working toward answers.
We are learning from hospitals facing similar challenges.
We are exploring new opportunities.
We are advocating for rural communities.
And we are planning ahead.
Because the future of local healthcare should not be left to chance.
For more than 100 years, Kittson Healthcare has cared for the people who call this area home. As healthcare continues to change, we are working to make sure that care remains available for generations to come.
The work may take us outside Kittson County, but the reason for doing it is right here at home.
