ABOVE: McKenzie Terfehr stands before her business, Southern Minnesota Skin Solutions, at its new location at 757 S. State Street in Fairmont.

FAIRMONT– Southern Minnesota Skin Solutions has a new and bigger location in Fairmont that better meets the needs of the business, which is growing in terms of services offered, staff on site and patients coming in.

Martin County native McKenzie Terfehr first opened her business, which specializes in all things skin, in July of 2022. Now nearly three years later, she’s moved from Highway 15 South to South State Street, where Center for Speciality Care was previously located.

“We’ve been expanding dramatically. We’re able to employ more people and offer more jobs to people in Fairmont. We’re seeing a wonderful reception from the entire area,” Terfehr said.

Their reach is pretty expansive. Terfehr said they get patients from all over Martin County and from northern Iowa, the Albert Lea and Austin area, as well as the Mankato and New Ulm area.

“We see patients from quite a distance. It’s been more than an amazing, welcoming response from providers around the area. They trust us with patient care pertaining to the dermatology perspective and just in general,” Terfehr said.

Speaking to the demand for services they’ve seen, Terfehr said in dermatology it can take anywhere from six months to a year to get an appointment at a lot of offices.

“There’s not too many that you can get in sooner than that. There’s some entities around that aren’t able to take new patients in the first place and that’s really frustrating,” Terfehr said.

She said Southern Minnesota Skin Solutions is able to take new patients, though noted she is booked out somewhat, but not terribly far. Because of this, the business is also growing in terms of staff.

“We’ve added staff. We originally started with three of us and now we’re up to seven,” Terfehr said. “We’ll be adding another provider next month.”

In addition to Terfehr, a nurse practitioner who specializes in dermatology, there’s also an aesthetician who can provide cosmetic services including laser therapy, micro needling, chemical peels and facials. There are also two Certified Medical Assistants (CMA), a scheduler and billing specialist.

Despite growing, Terfehr said she was not actively looking to relocate her business, but that she and her husband Tim heard about the opportunity through word of mouth.

They purchased the two story building at 757 S. State Street in December of 2024 and after doing some work, the business reopened to patients just last month.

“It worked out for the best. We went through quite a few renovations. Ankeny Builders came in and went through and renovated the area to where it’s very reflective of our previous practice,” Terfehr said.

They went from four patients rooms to 12 patient rooms where they can provide treatments.

Some of the most common reasons people come in to Southern Minnesota Skin Solutions include skin cancer concerns, annual skin exams, rashes and acne treatments.

“We target certain speciality conditions, too, like autoimmune triggered diseases as well,” Terfehr said.

As it’s currently summer and the UV is naturally higher, Terfehr provided some sun safety tips. She said they had been doing some extra education with patients during the month of May as it was Skin Cancer Awareness Month.

“We tell people what to look for, which is anything changing on the skin. Anything that’s changing symptomatically like it’s painful, itching, bleeding or changing in size, shape or color. That should be checked out as soon as they’re able to get into the office,” she said.

Terfehr suggested that people wear sunscreen and UV protective clothing when out and about.

“You can go outside and enjoy your time in the sun and have fun, but be a little smarter about it than we have been in the past. And please avoid tanning beds,” Terfehr said.

There are currently no new big moves planned for Terfehr as she’s still getting used to the flow at the new location. However, she’s looking forward to adding some new treatment services and continuing to grow and focus on patient care.

As the Terfehrs now own the whole two story building, McKenzie did say they have spaces available for other businesses, though some will be occupied shortly. Their former site is also newly on the market and she looks forward to seeing a different business use the space in the future.

For more information on Southern Minnesota Skin Solutions, visit southernmnskin.com.