Allina News

Jablonski Rehab at Sister Kenny: Hard Work the Order of Business

allinanews — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:32:21 +0000

[St.LouisParkPatch, February 9, 2012] It’s Sunday evening, and Jack Jablonski is hosting a Super Bowl party. Of course, the locale isn’t exactly what Jablonski would have in mind. The 16-year-old sophomore, who was severely injured by a hit he took in a game on Dec. 30, is at the Sister Kenny Rehabilitation Institute in Minneapolis. [...]

Allina’s new name focuses on health, not hospitals

allinanews — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:45:45 +0000

[Star Tribune, Feb 8, 2012] Allina Hospitals and Clinicsis changing its name to reflect a new mission that shifts the emphasis away from places we go when we’re sick and onto disease prevention and personal vitality. The new moniker — Allina Health — has been discussed internally with employees for several months, and now it’s [...]

Norovirus showing up in Minnesota

allinanews — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:56:48 +0000

[KMSP Fox 9, Feb. 7, 2012] Norovirus infections recently forced two cruise ships to return to port early in south Florida after hundreds of people were sickened by the vicious gastrointestinal illness, but that isn’t the only industry seeing infections. The virus has also showing up in Minnesota. Norovirus symptoms mimic those of food poisoning, [...]

Suprising sources for excess salt in our diets

allinanews — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:47:15 +0000

[KSTP TV, Feb. 7, 2012] The Centers for Disease Control says nine out of 10 adult Americans get too much salt in their diet, and from surprising sources. Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation registered dietician Laura Perdue talked with KSTP News about how to manage your salt intake. Watch the interview here.

Minn. Guardsman watches son’s birth from United Hospital via Skype

allinanews — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:26:16 +0000

KMSP Fox 9 News, Feb. 6, 2012] Those who fight in our armed forces are often away from home during important family moments — sometimes including the birth of a child. However, new technology can help bridge large distances, and one Minnesota guardsman was able to witness his son’s birth via Skype from Allina’s United [...]

Is sugar toxic? Researchers say ‘yes’

allinanews — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:12:46 +0000

[KMSP Fox 9 News, Feb. 2, 2012] Like alcohol and tobacco, sugar is a toxic, addictive substance that should be highly regulated with taxes, laws on where and to whom it can be advertised, and even age-restricted sales, a team of scientists contends. Allina dietician Paula Holbrook tells KMSP Fox 9 News that advice may [...]

Jack Jablonski making strides at Sister Kenny Rehabilitation Institute

allinanews — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:36:12 +0000

[KARE-TV, February 5, 2012] Like many of his 16-year-old classmates Jack Jablonski is learning to drive. Thursday he took his first trip through the halls of Sister Kenny Rehabilitation Institute in his motorized wheelchair. He displayed the usual student driver anxiety, but significantly, his left hand was running the controls. It ranked as one of [...]

Parasite strikes Minnesota firefighter’s eye

allinanews — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 20:36:35 +0000

[KARE-TV, Feb. 3, 2012] Newlywed Hayley Bester has to look at her wedding pictures with only one eye. Bester’s right eye is the victim of an attack by a water-borne parasite called Acanthamoeba Keratitis. “The amoeba is an organism that lives in water and it also has an affinity for contact lenses,” says Dr. Omar Awad, [...]

Pfizer recalls 1M birth control packs after mix-up

allinanews — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:47:19 +0000

[KSTP-TV, Feb. 1, 2012] A manufacturing mix-up by Pfizer Inc., the world’s largest drug maker, led to some packets being distributed with the pills out of order. That means a patient could have unknowingly skipped a dose and raised her risk of an accidental pregnancy. Allina Medical Clinic – Woodlake (Richfield) OB/GYN Dr. Meredith Kasbohm [...]

At Allina, Chinese and traditional medicine complement each other

allinanews — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:30:23 +0000

[The Patch, Jan. 31, 2012] Have you ever had an ailment that just wouldn’t go away, despite your doctor’s best care? At Allina Medical Clinic – Northfield—as elsewhere—it’s become increasingly common for such patients to be referred to an acupuncturist, which is often their first venture into the widening world of alternative/complementary medicine. Read the full [...]

Allina surgeons get new treatment approach for brain aneurysms

allinanews — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:49:01 +0000

[Star Tribune, Jan. 30, 2012] As physicians, nurses and technicians looked on, Dr. Benjamin Crandall and Dr. Josser Delgado gingerly inserted a catheter into an artery in the leg of a 55-year-old woman. To guide them, the neuroradiologists watched their progress on several screens showing multiple images of the blood vessels in her brain. It [...]

Allina’s Cambridge Medical Center rings Cancer Bell of Hope

allinanews — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 20:41:59 +0000

[KSTP-TV, Jan. 26, 2012] We all know beating cancer can be a long and difficult challenge, and now one Minnesota hospital has a new way to recognize the fight. Cambridge Medical Center in Isanti County unveiled its bell of hope. It’s rung in celebration after a person completes chemotherapy treatment. The bell was paid for [...]

Jablonski’s Challenges On His Road to Recovery

allinanews — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:50:39 +0000

[WCCO-AM, Jan. 24, 2012] Tuesday is Jack Jablonski’s first full day at his new rehabilitation center. The 16-year-old Benilde-St. Margaret’s sophomore left the Hennepin County Medical Center Monday to begin rehab at Sister Kenny Rehabilitation Institute at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. Doctors couldn’t give us any specific details on what challenges Jablonski would be facing directly, [...]

“Recalled” Riata ICD leads: Brainstorming conference aims for guidance

allinanews — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 22:06:54 +0000

[Heartwire.com, January 20, 2012] A meeting of the minds in Minneapolis today aims, in part, to figure out what to do with the thousands of people in the US—about 79 000, according to St Jude Medical—who remain fitted with the company’s “recalled” St Jude Medical Riata or Riata ST implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) leads. There remains a [...]

Allina will add 24-hour ER to WestHealth in Plymouth

allinanews — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:04:59 +0000

[Star Tribune, Jan. 13, 2012] Allina Hospitals & Clinics said it is adding an emergency department to its WestHealth facility in Plymouth — a project expected to cost between $5 million and $8 million. The new department will be staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with emergency room doctors affiliated with Abbott [...]

Runners’ Heart Risks Seen as Overblown

allinanews — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:13:53 +0000

[Wall Street Journal, Jan. 12, 2012] Long-distance runners can breathe a little easier. Scattered reports of heart-related deaths during marathons and half marathons over the past few years have prompted questions about the safety of the events. But a study of participants over more than a decade found only a tiny risk of cardiac arrest [...]

Summit set to inform electrophysiologists on Riata ICD lead recall

allinanews — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 17:27:08 +0000

[Business Wire, Jan. 7, 2012] Cardiovascular leaders will gather in Minneapolis for a one-day summit on Jan. 20, to review data for Riata and Riata ST implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) leads, which recently underwent a Class I FDA recall. The summit directors are Robert G. Hauser, MD, senior cardiologist at the Minneapolis Heart Institute® at Abbott [...]

Big baby born at Allina’s Mercy Hospital near Minnesota record

allinanews — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:00:28 +0000

[Duluth News Tribune, Jan. 5, 2012] Here’s one way to think about Michael Robert Calistro-Gomulak’s birth weight: At 15 pounds, 7 ounces, he weighed more at birth than both of his parents put together when they were born. His is the fourth-largest documented birth in Minnesota history. Michael, who was born Sept. 28 at Mercy [...]

Families fret amid ADHD drug shortage

allinanews — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:20:12 +0000

[KMSP Fox 9, Jan, 3, 2012] Millions of Americans who use ADHD medications to help control their lives are concerned over a drug shortage now that pharmacies are running out. Pharmacists thought the shortage would be over last summer. Instead, they say it’s just getting worse, and it’s affecting everyone. Ann Byre, the director of [...]

The other surprise about twins born in separate years…

allinanews — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 23:21:58 +0000

[Star Tribune, Jan. 3, 2012] Twins Beckett and Freya Humenny will grow up together, but they will never share a birthday — or even a birth year. Beckett was born at 6:40 p.m. on New Year’s Eve 2011. His sister, Freya, was born six hours later, at 12:26 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2012. Allina Medical [...]

Allina rehabilitation doc on prospects for paralyzed high school hockey player

allinanews — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:33:56 +0000

[KMSP Fox 9, Jan. 2, 2011] A Twin Cities high school hockey player suffered a neck injury in a game that has severely damaged his spinal cord and left him partially paralyzed. Fox 9 News talked with Dr. Murali Krishnamurthy at Allina’s Sister Kenny Rehabilitation Institute about how such an injury happens and what modern [...]

Allina ortho surgeon on Adrian Peterson’s knee surgery

allinanews — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:56:48 +0000

[KMSP Fox 9, Dec. 30, 2011] Vikings fans are hoping that star running back Adrian will make a full and speedy recovery from knee surgery to repair damage from a season-ending injury on Dec. 24. Orthopedic surgeon Pearce McCarty, with Allina’s Sports and Orthopaedic Specialists, discussed the Peterson surgery on Fox 9 News and his [...]

Allina ICU nurse named chili champ at Unity Hospital

allinanews — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 19:16:30 +0000

[ABC Newspapers, December 29, 2011] Don Toews is a registered nurse in Unity Hospital’s intensive care unit. He administers medications, he regulates vital signs, he helps accomplish life-saving procedures. Turns out, Toews also makes a mouth-watering bowl of chili. Toews’ cilantro lime and top sirloin chili recipe recently earned him chili champ recognition at Unity [...]

Start-ups sprout from this Sister Kenny clinic

allinanews — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 22:26:08 +0000

[Star Tribune, December 25, 2011] Imagine a robot that can check on recovering stroke patients, remind them to do exercises — even update therapists about their progress. Meet SKOTEE. The robot is one of the latest inventions being developed at the Sister Kenny Research Center in Minneapolis, a division of the Sister Kenny Rehabilitation Institute. [...]

Kids get new wheels from Free Bikes 4 Kidz

allinanews — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 17:44:25 +0000

[Anoka County Union, Dec. 15, 2011]Kids in the northwest metro area are riding high this holiday season thanks to Free Bikes 4 Kidz, its partner Allina Hospitals & Clinics and the many volunteers who worked to restore bikes generously donated by community members and businesses. Read the article.