Lakewood Health System

The Bridges Career Exploration Day was held at Central Lakes College last week, with approximately 2,000 high school students from 26 school districts in attendance. Lakewood staff, along with over 150 other businesses, had the opportunity to share their knowledge and passion and give students a look at a wide range of career paths. Lakewood departments represented included: Hospital nursing, wound care, clinic nursing, emergency services, long-term care, surgery, radiology and lab.

There are some of our amazing IT and billing team members sharing the unique challenges and solutions for rural health care cybersecurity! Thanks Microsoft for Nonprofits for featuring us!

?? Leadership in Action: The ALIGN event at Lakewood Health System ?? Last week, our leaders came together for the ALIGN leadership event—a day dedicated to collaboration, innovation, and growth. From engaging Think Tank discussions to inspiring insights from Erik Therwanger, the event was packed with meaningful conversations and actionable ideas to drive our mission forward. We were thrilled to see leaders step out of their comfort zones, connect with new faces, and dive deep into challenges and opportunities that will shape the future of Lakewood Health System. ?? Key Highlights: ?? Think Tank sessions explored topics like onboarding, communication, interdepartmental collaboration, and AI optimization. ??Collaborative discussions led to innovative solutions and strategies for advancing our leadership goals. ??Erik Therwanger challenged us to empower our teams through communication, cultivation, and collaboration—a powerful takeaway for every leader in the room. A special thanks to our Main Campus Dietary team for providing fantastic meals throughout the day. To our incredible leaders: Thank you for making this event a priority and bringing your energy, insights, and dedication. Your collaboration is what makes events like these so impactful! #LeadershipDevelopment #ALIGNLeadership #LakewoodLeaders #Collaboration #Innovation #HealthcareLeadership?

Lakewood was privileged to host high school students from Staples-Motley, Pillager, Wadena, Bertha-Hewitt, and Verndale schools for last week's career day. Students had the opportunity to do some hands-on learning for a wide variety of careers available within the healthcare industry. We're so excited for the next generation of caring and passionate workers!

As a rural healthcare facility, Lakewood is proud and privileged to provide great care and valuable resources to our patients and communities.

We always have a great time at Sourcewell's Young Scientist Conference, but this year our Emergency Services really took the mission of "hands-on experience" to a new level! Grateful for events like this that expose the next generation to a variety of careers!

We're so glad to have Dr. McGovern on our team here at Lakewood!

One of the amazing things about our cancer care team (and patients!) at Lakewood is their resounding commitment to increase awareness and access for rural cancer patients throughout the region. Lakewood oncologist Dr. Wade Swenson and Sandra Thompson, Lakewood Oncology patient participated in this incredible event to improve the experience and outcomes for rural cancer patients in central Minnesota!

The orange shovels hit the dirt this morning during the official groundbreaking for the Lakewood Cancer Center!!! Attendees included Lakewood employees, providers and board members, Staples community and business members, representatives from Nor-Son Construction, Congresswoman Michelle Fischbach, RPS Oncology, and more. A few words were shared by Lisa Bjerga, Lakewood President and CEO; Dr. Christine Albrecht, Lakewood Chief Medical Officer; Dr. Wade Swenson, Lakewood oncologist; Sandra Thompson, Lakewood oncology patient; and Mandy Heffron, communications representative from Michelle Fischbach's office. Thank you to all who joined us! We are grateful for the ways this facility will help us provide convenient, comprehensive cancer care for our Lakewood patients!

We are proud to share that we were named as a Star Tribune Top Workplace for the *fifth year in a row*, with special recognition by Energage for excellence in Culture, Purpose and Values! We have the best employees who make our mission of delivering high quality, personalized care a reality each and every day. If you're ready to do join the change, and take a more personal approach to your career, we want you on our team!