Regions Hospital

It is my privilege to serve as chief retention officer of nursing at Regions Hospital. I believe this is the best place to work! The excitement, energy and passion to care for our patients are impressive and inspiring. Regions nurses have unbelievable talent and compassion. Our nurses are unlike those anywhere else in the metro. We are a diverse and dynamic group, dedicated to delivering the best care and the best experience to our patients. I came to Regions because of the cultural diversity of patients and the educational opportunities; I stay at Regions because this is truly a place to build a career.

AllOut Marketing Medical Director, Dr. Arthur Beisang, has an extensive background in healthcare and policy administration, clinic/urgent care practice, and medical technology development. Beisang's combined executive, clinical, and product development expertise brings invaluable insight to the medical relevance of new medical device, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical products, and the assessment of medical business plans, product development, and market entry strategies. Dr. Beisang's executive accomplishments include serving as Interim Vice President of Medical Affairs and Program Director for Pediatrics and Quality Management at Regions Hospital; Physician Director for Urgent Care at HealthPartners Clinics; Director of Pediatric After-Hours Care at Ramsey Clinic and Hospital; Medical Director of Pediatric Managed Care at RamseyCare; and Director of Technology Development for Bioplasty, Inc. His publications include numerous papers and abstracts on the use of biosynthetic polymers in surgical applications, immune reconstitution in bone marrow transplantation, and skin treatment for scald burns.

Since graduating from nursing school in 1988, I have been working at Regions Hospital, in the health care career I have always wanted. Regions has provided me with numerous challenges and interesting career opportunities over the years. As the director of nursing practice and education, I have the pleasure of working collaboratively with physician and provider staff, nursing colleagues, ancillary support departments such as pharmacy and lab, as well as hospital administration, to ensure our patients receive the best care and best experience possible. Our patients represent numerous cultures and backgrounds which makes this work and career always interesting and rewarding. The compassion, goals, mission and vision shared by nursing and our other colleagues makes Regions a special place to work.

My passion is to provide exceptional anesthesia and surgical care for our patients. In my role as director of surgical services I feel especially fortunate to be working with staff who share this commitment and, in my opinion, are some of the best. Learning is a lifelong process, and there is no better environment to support continuous learning than in surgical services. We combine state-of-the-art technical expertise with tremendous care and compassion for each of our patients. I am honored to be a part of surgical services and Regions Hospital.

The focus on patient safety at Regions Hospital is near and dear to my heart. Both of my parents experienced medical errors out-of-state, so I realize the importance of providing a safe environment for our patients. Focusing on patient safety, we look at our systems and identify and remove factors that put our patients at risk. As we improve our systems we also enhance the nurses work environment. Nurses should feel they are providing safe care and their work environment supports this. As a director of nursing at Regions since March 2003, I find my role is that of facilitator. I provide the tools and supplies needed by our staff, facilitate improvement in processes and remove barriers. To accomplish this, I support nurses having a voice in the work that they do. It is our nurses at the bedside that are in the best position to determine what supports the safest environment for our patients. Shared Governance provides the vehicle for staff to have a voice in the nurses practice at the bedside. Through Shared Governance, nurses and other nursing department staff will create a safer environment for our patients. My education has prepared me for being an instrument of change in nursing. With a Master of Science in Nursing (focused on nursing administration and a related field in ethics) from the University of Minnesota and a Master in Health Care Administration from the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management, I am able to apply the tools that I have gained through my education to improving systems in patient care. Daily we have the opportunity to make a difference. Hospitalization is the most vulnerable time for our patients. We can make the patient experience here the safest and best that it can be during a most difficult time in their lives.

In September 2006, I celebrated my 25-year anniversary as a registered nurse at Regions Hospital. As a safety net hospital, we work hard to live out our mission every day. Our work environment is dynamic and provides continual learning. I feel that there is abundant challenge and opportunities for the nursing profession at Regions.

It was a passion for delivering exceptional trauma care and being part of a team that would lead Regions (then St. Paul Ramsey Medical Center) to become a verified Level I Trauma Center that first brought me to this organization. This was in 1990. I am very fortunate to be part of an organization that leads (rather than follows) in implementing best practices, clinical innovations and technologies. I am proud of the work our nurses, physicians, respiratory therapists, infection control practitioners and other specialists have done to significantly reduce infection rates (e.g. ventilator associated pneumonia, central catheter related blood stream infections) and improve glucose control in critical care patients. Equally impressive are our electronic medical records, rapid response teams, RN/dietician teams providing collaborative enteral feeding and tube management, and progressive care models. Collectively these new processes make a difference in creating a safer system of care and improved experiences for patients and families. At Regions, there is a wealth of opportunity to learn via both formal education offerings and experiential opportunities regardless of position and specialty. Our connectivity to the larger HealthPartners family increases those opportunities. I am humbled and honored to work in an environment that is committed to providing best care and best experience to every patient, every day.

Dr. Koerner received her undergraduate degree from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota in 1974, then earned her medical degree from the University of North Dakota Medical School in 1978. Her internship was completed at Bethesda Lutheran Medical Center in 1978; her residency was completed at the University of Minnesota in 1981. She is board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation. Dr. Koerner is the clinical program director at Regions Hospital and the HealthPartners PM&R department.

I received an associate degree in nursing from Rochester Community College and a bachelor's degree in nursing from Augsburg College. I also have Master of Nursing and Master of Business Administration degrees from the University of Texas at Austin. I've had the benefit of working in a variety of settings both clinical and administrative, including ENT, plastics, the emergency department, heart cath lab, intensive care, gynecology, quality management, care management, utilization review, claims administration and most recently, patient safety. I've never entertained any other profession than nursing. My grandmother, although she never received any formal training, was the village nurse and midwife. It's evident I inherited my compassion, empathy and care-giving instincts from her. Regions Hospital is a wonderful place to work and we are committed to providing a safe environment for our patients, visitors and staff. We are heavily involved in a wide variety of initiatives designed to be timely, effective and efficient at providing the best care to our patients in an equitable patient-centered environment. Every staff person at Regions is dedicated to ensuring our patients have the best experience possible under our care, with patient safety being an essential component. Nurses plays a vital role in this effort and are central to developing a culture of patient safety.

I came to Regions Hospital because of an intense need and desire to be closer to my family in Canada. I was inspired to work here because it was obvious to me, from the very first interview, that the leadership and staff of behavioral health share my passion to fight to continuously improve the care that we provide the mentally ill. As director of nursing of behavior health services, I have the opportunity and pleasure to work collaboratively with experienced registered nurses and with staff from multiple other disciplines toward the ultimate goal of providing the Best Care and Best Experience for our patients. I am honored to work with gifted and compassionate staff in behavioral health as well as the network of other health professionals in other departments at Regions Hospital.

Dr. Warhol received her undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1985, then earned her medical degree from the University of Minnesota Medical School in 1990. Her internship was completed at the Gunderson Clinic in 1991; her residency was completed in 1994 at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Warhol is board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation.

Candyce Kuehn is the Burn Center nurse manager. She is responsible for day-to-day patient care, including operations, budgeting, and staffing of the inpatient and outpatient care. She graduated from Mounds-Midway School of Nursing and received her bachelor's degree at Metro State University. Candyce has been with the Burn Center since 1976. She was a staff nurse and clinical educator prior to her promotion to nurse manger in 1982. She has been active in fire prevention and education, including educating first responders, emergency and inpatient personnel. Candyce is a certified ABLS instructor and helps develop these educational programs. Candyce, a member of the American Burn Association (ABA, has authored and co-authored many scientific abstracts, moderated continuing education sessions and has been active on several ABA committees. Candyce has also authored papers in the Journal of Burn Care and Rehabilitation and Critical Care Nursing Clinics of North America and in Trauma Quarterly. Currently, Ms. Kuehn is associate program chair for the ABA.

Chris Gilyard is the Burn Survivor Peer Support Representative for the Burn Center. She supports burn survivors in the adjustment and recovery process they go through after experiencing a severe burn injury. Chris was a burn patient in the Burn Center 22 years ago, as the result of a car collision explosion. She spent two months in the Burn Center. As part of her recovery, Chris was required to wear a transparent facemask to minimize facial scarring. She wore the mask for a total of two years. Since her burn experience, Chris received her Master's Degree and has done various work with the Burn Center. She has been a featured speaker for the Minnesota Burn Care Conference, appeared on television's PM MAGAZINE promoting the transparent facemask, and represented the Burn Center at the Science Museum of Minnesota exhibit. Chris also does motivational and educational speaking, utilizing her burn experience to promote health and wellness, and patient-centered health care. Today Chris is married, raising two boys and spending her free time on their small farm in rural Minnesota. Her work in the Burn Center, supporting and encouraging patients and families, is a reflection of the quality care she received during her own recovery. It is her hope that her experience and investment will make a difference for others experiencing a burn trauma.

Connie has been a clinical psychologist for 25 years with professional experiences including teaching, research and private practice. She has worked as a psychologist on the Burn unit for six years. Her expertise in acute stress disorder and post traumatic stress disorder is helpful to our inpatient population and in our outpatient clinic follow-up. She is a developmental specialist so she helps families understand how children, adolescents, adults and even the elderly deal differently with their burn injury. She also assesses post trauma adjustment in the patients through the telemedicine program. She is the psychologist on a hospital based chronic pain team using biofeedback and hypnotherapy to help patients manage acute and chronic pain. She has recently been focusing on long term psychological and physiological adjustment to low voltage electrical injury.

Dr. Hardten recently received the Senior Achievement Award Dr. David R. Hardten, a board-certified ophthalmologist and founding partner of Minnesota Eye Consultants, is one of the nation's most prominent leaders in research and education and treatment of the cornea, external disease, anterior segment, cataract, refractive and laser surgery. As director for Minnesota Eye Consultants' Clinical Research Department, Dr. Hardten leads extensive research projects surrounding the latest refractive procedures for correction of myopia, astigmatism and hyperopia. He also serves as director of Minnesota Eye Consultants' fellowship and optometric residency program, both of which are prestigious, year-long fellowships that train physicians in the sub-specialties of cornea and external disease, glaucoma, cataract and refractive surgery. A native of Kansas City, KS, Dr. Hardten graduated from Shawnee Mission South High School. He attended the University of Kansas, and was later accepted in the University of Minnesota Department of Ophthalmology residency program. While completing residency training, Dr. Hardten received numerous honors and awards for outstanding achievement. He completed his fellowship training in cornea and external disease at the University of Minnesota and received the ARVO/National Eye Institute Fellow Award. Dr. Hardten entered private practice in 1993 with Drs. Richard L. Lindstrom and Thomas W. Samuelson as founding partners of Minnesota Eye Consultants. His practice extends beyond Minnesota Eye Consultants to Regions Hospital in St. Paul, as well as greater Minnesota, providing medical and surgical services to patients in the Twin Cities and outside communities. Dr. Hardten has focused on education throughout his career. As associate professor of ophthalmology at the University of Minnesota Department of Ophthalmology, he is actively involved in teaching residents at Regions Hospital in St. Paul, as well as fellows at the Veterans Medical Center, Minneapolis. He also serves as a clinical associate professor for the Pennsylvania College of Optometry. Additionally, he is an instructor for VISX and Laser Vision Centers, where he teaches ophthalmologists from around the world to perform LASIK. Dr. Hardten consults to many major ophthalmologic companies, holds three patents and serves on the editorial board for several ophthalmic journals. He is a regular contributor and reviewer for numerous ophthalmic papers and journals. Dr. Hardten has held leadership positions in many professional organizations, including board director for the International Society of Refractive Surgery; co-medical director for Laser Vision Centers, Inc.; board of directors for the Contact Lens Association of Ophthalmologists; programming and refractive surgery interest group planning committee of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. While serving for the American Academy of Ophthalmology, he received its distinguished achievement award in 1999 for his countless efforts to advance the agenda of the Academy. Dr. Hardten lectures throughout the world on refractive surgery and research. He has published over 20 chapters and 100 articles on cornea, cataract and refractive surgery.

Laurie E. Felland, M.S., health researcher, works on HSC's site visit research. She focuses on low-income people's access to medical care, including Medicaid, SCHIP and safety net issues, as well as public health preparedness. Previously, she was a policy analyst at the Massachusetts Division of Health Care Finance and Policy and a redesign analyst at Regions Hospital in St. Paul. Felland holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Carleton College and a master's degree in health policy and management from the Harvard School of Public Health.

Mark Towsley is a staff physicist with Minneapolis Radiation Oncology, P.A. His base clinic is Regions Hospital in St. Paul, MN. Mark Towsley is a certified Medical Physicist by the American Board of Radiology in Radiation Oncology, Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine. Mark Towsley received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Physics and Math from UW Eau Claire, Eau Claire Wisconsin. He received a Master's Degree in Medical Physics from UW Madison, Madison, Wisconsin. Mark Towsley has 20 + years of experience in Medical Physics. He started and maintained many programs such as, Prostate Seed Implant since 1995, Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) since 1996, and Electronic Portal Imaging (EPID's) since 1998. Mark has experience in starting, maintaining, and consulting several Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) programs since 1998 throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Ohio. Mark's area of interest is Quality Control/Quality Assurance. He has given several talks and consulted over the years on maintaining QA programs. He has been a radiation safety office at many other institutions over the years with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and State agencies. He also has experience in shielding design and environmental measurements.

Mary Hilgers has been a burn nurse for 25 years. She has worked in a number of different capacities in the Burn Center and currently is the Burn Center Assistant Nurse Manager. Mary graduated from St. Marys Junior College with an Associate Degree in Nursing and from the College of St. Francis with a Bachelor's Degree in Health Arts. She is an Advanced Burn Life Support instructor, and provides burn education to medical personnel. Mary is responsible for coordinating orientation of new staff, ongoing staff development and burn prevention educational activities. Mary is interested in preventing burn injuries and is involved in the planning of community safety camps, juvenile fire setter programs and other community safety events. She also assists families with questions or concerns about juvenile fire setting.

Michael Luxenberg is the President and CEO of Professional Data Analysts, Inc. (PDA). He founded PDA in 1984 as a one person firm specializing in statistical consulting for medical research studies. Under his leadership, the firm has grown to three Divisions: Statistics, Software Development and Evaluation. Dr. Luxenberg is most proud of PDA's dedicated and service-oriented staff who use a collaborative approach with each other and with PDA's clients. Dr. Luxenberg is also a partner and Director of Statistical Services for DAMARCO Solutions, a company specializing in data management and regulatory compliance solutions. Dr. Luxenberg received his BA from Pratt Institute, specializing in electrical engineering. He worked for the National Security Agency for two years before changing career paths. He received his doctoral degree in 1986 from the Psychology Department of the University of Minnesota specializing in Behavioral Genetics with a double minor in statistics and genetics. Working with researchers in various medical and behavioral fields, he has co-authored over 70 articles published in refereed journals. As principal or co-principal investigator of many large scale research projects or evaluations, Dr. Luxenberg has published numerous technical reports. Since 1998, Dr. Luxenberg has been Co-Principal Investigator with Dr. Connie Schmitz of Professional Evaluation Services and Dr. David Bass of the Benjamin Rose for the National Chronic Consortium's Alzheimer's Demonstration Project, a national evaluation of a new model of integrated care for persons suffering from dementia. Also since 1998, Dr. Luxenberg has served as Co-Principal Investigator with Dr. Connie Schmitz of an evaluation of a teen pregnancy prevention initiative (MN ENABL/AECG) for the Minnesota Department of Health. Since 2001, Dr. Luxenberg has been PI for the evaluation of a tobacco cessation telephone helpline for the Minnesota Partnership for Action Against Tobacco. Dr. Luxenberg has consulted on statistical analysis and design for medical research projects with hundreds of doctors in the Twin Cities area from Regions Hospital, Minneapolis Children's Healthcare, Hennepin County Medical Center, Park Nicollet (HealthSystems) and the University of Minnesota. He is currently statistical consultant for the research unit at Gillette Children's Hospital. As part of his work with Hazelden/Johnson Institute he has co-developed two surveys: the StudentView, a nationally used alcohol and other drug prevention survey for middle and high school aged students; and the Behavioral Health Survey used by the United States Air Force to assess risk factors in air force units. Dr. Luxenberg was the database manager, statistical consultant and archivist for the Minnesota Student Survey from 1989 through 1998, a joint project of the Minnesota Departments of Children, Families and Learning and Department of Human Services. He is a participating member of ASA (American Statistical Association), AEA (American Evaluation Association) and MPPAW (Minnesota Professional Psychologists Applied to Work).

Nina Ames is the Burn Center Service Representative. She is a customer service advocate for the Burn Center. Nina is the first person you will see when entering the Burn Center, welcoming and assisting all. Nina graduated from the College of St. Catherine's with a music degree, and is an accomplished cellist who teaches and performs. Her main interests is doing domestic and foreign missionary work. At Regions Hospital, Nina is involved with the Burn Foundation, Staff Link, ABOP (Administrative Professional Network) and the Student Job Shadowing Program. Nina's warm and caring attitude helps patients and families endure the trauma of a burn experience. Nina is a valuable asset to the Burn Center.

Dr. Stewart received her undergraduate degree from East Carolina University in 1980. She then received her masters degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1986 and her doctor of osteopathy from the University of Osteopathic Medicine and Health Sciences in 1993. Her internship was completed at the Medical Center of Central Massachusetts in 1994; her medical fellowship was completed at the University of Minnesota in 1997. Dr. Stewart is board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation.

Dr. Robert Nelson is a biomedical scientist in the Surgical Research Laboratory. Before joining Regions Hospital, he spent 25 years in the Departments of Surgery and Dermatology at the University of Minnesota where he conducted research related to physiological and drug-related mechanisms that suppress functions of white blood cells. His research is focused on solving two problems related to the healing of burn wounds: itch that is not fully controlled by antihistamine drugs and hypertrophic scarring. His working hypothesis is that both of these problems can be traced to cells that migrate into the healing wound tissue where they are activated to release agents that stimulate nerve and skin cells. His research tools include a confocal microscope that produces a three-dimensional image of cells in biopsy tissue that have been stained with fluorescent dyes, and a flow cytometer that allows him to measure numbers of molecules on the surface of individual cells grown in tissue culture. Learning which cells contribute to itching and scarring will allow him to test novel therapies to eliminate these problems for the burn patient.

Teresa Evans is the clinical social worker at Regions Hospital Burn Center. She assists families and patients with everything from crisis counseling to discharge planning. She also helps families by providing information and resources available to them in their community. Ms. Evans is available at the outpatient burn clinic to follow-up with patients and families on continuing psychosocial needs. Ms. Evans has worked at Regions Hospital for nine years. She has been part of the Burn Center for the past four years. She holds a master's degree in social work and is licensed as a clinical social worker.

Mary K. Brainerd (Class III) was appointed to the Board on November 17, 2008. Her appointment will become effective as of February 2, 2009. Ms. Brainerd is President and Chief Executive Officer of HealthPartners, Inc., a family of non-profit Minnesota health care organizations headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She has been with HealthPartners since 1992 and has served as President and Chief Executive Officer since 2002. Prior to joining HealthPartners, Ms. Brainerd held senior level positions with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. Ms. Brainerd also serves on the boards of Minnesota Life/Securian, The St. Paul Foundation, Capital City Partnership, Minnesota Council of Health Plans, Alliance of Community Health Plans, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.

Stephen B. Wellington, Jr. is founder and President of Wellington Management, Inc. (WMI). Established in 1984, this St. Paul-based commercial real estate firm currently owns and manages a 3.2 million s.f. $250 million portfolio of more than 75 properties located in 15 different Twin Cities communities. More than 600 tenants have chosen to locate in these Wellington properties. In addition to the commercial property portfolio, WMI has more recently developed four residential condominium properties comprising more than 350 housing units. WMI is currently ranked as one of the top ten real estate developers in the Twin Cities area. Steve is a 1971 cum laude graduate of Yale University, where he received a B.A. in English Literature. He grew up in Boston, Massachusetts and moved to St. Paul in 1974. He holds a master's degree in public affairs from the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute and received a second master's degree from Stanford University's Graduate School of Business in 1984 through a Bush Foundation Fellowship. Between 1976 and 1984, Steve worked for the City of St. Paul, first as an aide to Mayor George Latimer and then later as Deputy Director for the City's Department of Planning and Economic Development. As a leading St. Paul development official, Steve was responsible for such major redevelopment projects as District Energy, Lowertown redevelopment and the establishment of the Family Housing Fund. Steve has been an active community volunteer and civic leader. From 1993 to 1999, Steve served on the Metropolitan Council. He also served as Chair of the Midway Chamber of Commerce in 2005. He has also served as a board member of YMCA Camp Widjiwagan, the St. Anthony Park Community Foundation, District Energy St. Paul and the St. Anthony Park Bank. He is currently chair of Macalester College's High Winds Fund and co-chair of the Plymouth Church Neighborhood Foundation, a non-profit developer of affordable housing. He also currently serves as a board member of Drake Bank and as a board member of Regions Hospital. He has three adult children and lives with his wife, Kathy, in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood of St. Paul.