About Us
Overview
OAHS is a rural healthcare organization located in west central Minnesota. Our organization consists of
- Ortonville Hospital a 25-bed acute care facility;
- Northridge Residence, a 64-bed long-term care facility;
- OAHS Home Health Agency, a hospital-based home health agency.
We are associated with
- Northside Medical Center, our local clinic
- Big Stone Therapies, Inc., the local therapy group
- Clinton Clinic, our satellite clinic located in Clinton, 11 miles north of Ortonville.
History:
The first hospital in Ortonville was built in the summer of 1906 at a cost of about $15,000. It was a brick construction building with granite trim. The hospital had 14 rooms for patients, average size 9 feet by 10 feet, 3 rooms large enough for more than one bed; waiting room on the first floor; operating room on second floor, 12 feet by 14 feet, with ample sky-light; bath rooms on both floors; kitchen, dining room, laundry and furnace room in the basement with room for storage. Dr. Jacob Karn and Dr. Charles Bolsta built and owned the first hospital, one block from Main Street and overlooking the City Park and what was known until 1919 as the Grand View Hospital. Miss Josephine Bolsta, R.N., sister of Dr. Bolsta, was the first Superintendent and continued in that capacity until her death in 1918. In the early years, a training school for nurses was conducted. In 1919, the hospital was sold to the Evangelical Conference of South Dakota and was operated under the name of the Ortonville Evangelical Hospital. In 1944 it was sold back to Dr. Bolsta and Dr. Bert Karn, who donated it to the City of Ortonville in 1944. It was then known as the Ortonville Community Hospital until 1953, when it was sold to a private party for a Nursing Home. The current thirty-two bed hospital at 450 Eastvold Avenue was started in late 1950. A disastrous fire on February 1, 1951 delayed construction so that it was March 30, 1952 before the new Ortonville Municipal Hospital opened. Fifteen years later a $500,000 bond issue financed expansion and remodeling. Open house for the forty-five bed facility was held on September 10, 1970. One wing was used for skilled nursing care for the elderly from 1976 until 1978. The cornerstone of Ortonville's seventy-four bed nursing home was placed on September 11, 1977 and Northridge Residence at 1075 Roy Street was opened to the public on March 23, 1978. A renovation of the thirty-year old part of the Ortonville Hospital brought it into compliance with current building codes in 1984. Although the changes were largely in the heating, ventilation and fire-prevention systems, they were also designed to enhance the work flow to increase safety and efficiency for both staff and patients. Visible are the new intensive care unit, the relocated nursery and the necessary redecoration of that area. The Home Health Agency opened in 1988. In June 2000, groundbreak was held for the Outpatient Services Center. This new building, attached to the current hospital, will be home for Northside Medical Center, Big Stone Therapies, Inc., cardiac rehabilitation, chemotherapy suite and radiology department. This is Phase I of the building plans for Ortonville Hospital. Since February 1, 1998, Ortonville Area Health Services has been a member of Sanford Health of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Mission & Vision
Our mission and vision at OAHS is dedicated to the whole of healing and to assure a continuum of quality care services is provided to area residents.
