Smooth start for new Fairmont clinic
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FAIRMONT-- The start of October brought with it the opening of the new Windom Area Health clinic in Fairmont, which opened its doors to patients on the first of the month after several weeks of remodeling its new space inside the Victoria State Crossing building. So far, Outreach and Operations Manager, Leah Jenson, said things are going well.
"It went very well," she said of opening day last Thursday. "We had a couple of patients and we had a few hiccups with technology that come on the first day, but nothing too bad by any means. We were happy to welcome those patients in."
As for why Fairmont was chosen by the organization as a clinic site, providers said they could see that there were healthcare needs not being met in Martin County and they wanted to bring in those skillsets.
Since taking over the space, which was previously occupied by Center for Speciality Care, they have been working on refreshing it, though no major work has been required as it was already set up for a clinic.
"We cleaned the space out, hung some decorations, painted, repaired some wallpapers and put in some new flooring," Jenson said.
Along with that, they had been working on getting the news out that they were moving into the Fairmont area. In addition to this new location, there is the main hospital in Windom and outreach clinics in Lakefield and Trimont and general surgery in Slayton.
"The more word of mouth, the better. We're trying to get the word out anywhere we can," Jenson said.
Windom Area Health's suite inside the Victoria State Crossing building can be accessed easily through door B or even door E.
Right now, specialty care services, including general surgery, urology and OB/GYN are offered. While providers are happy the clinic here is open, only one phase of a multi-phase roll out has been completed.
"We actually had our first meeting today to get to work on phase two," Jenson said on Monday. "No rest here. We don't want to sit on it."
Phase two will add primary and acute care, along with lab and imaging, which will require more equipment.
As for when that will be done, Jenson said, "We're saying winter 2027. A lot of it depends on licensing and things like that."
To start they're open Monday through Thursday but would like to start having a urologist come over to the Fairmont clinic on Fridays.
"We just hired him and onboarded him in Windom and we're letting him get his practice set up there before he rotates into here," Jenson said.
She added that Lori Fett, a Certified Nurse Practitioner specializing in urology, is already seeing patients at the Fairmont clinic. In addition to her, Dr. Kendra Kamlitz and Dr. Laura Grigereit provide general surgery and Dr. James Hinshaw is their OB/GYN.
A grand opening is scheduled for Nov. 5. Jenson said they wanted to coordinate with the city and with the chamber and also get their feet wet and get any kinks worked out prior to hold a grand opening celebration.
"We're really thankful for how welcoming the community has been," Jenson said. "We feel very welcome here and are excited to be here in town."