For Immediate Release

For more information, contact:
Debra Brase, 507-444-6070

Allina’s Owatonna Hospital employees receive special thanks in May

OWATONNA, Minn.  05/05/2008--America’s hospitals are positive, vital places that promote health and well being. Nurses soothe patients, calm children and provide healing to an aching soul.

Those are messages that Owatonna Hospital and health care facilities across the country are voicing as they celebrate National Nurse Week starting today and National Hospital Week the following week.

"These recognitions are dedicated to honor and acknowledge individuals who have chosen to work in a field that provides an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others. Everyday employees of Owatonna Hospital are doing the purposeful and worthwhile work of caring for others," said Owatonna Hospital President Dorothy Erdmann.

At Owatonna and other Allina hospitals, employees will be treated with a variety of special events. Reminders to thank employees for the work they do will be posted around hospitals and advertised in local newspapers.

The tradition of National Hospital Week, a celebration of care, dates back to 1921. Today, National Hospital Week is the nation’s largest health care celebration. For 2008, organizers have selected a united theme that emphasizes the healing process: “National Hospital Week—Where Healing Happens Every Day.”

About Owatonna Hospital

The new Owatonna Hospital will be connected to the current Owatonna Clinic-Mayo Health System 26th Street location, off Interstate 35, creating a health care campus. The facility will be designed to create an environment for providing high quality, safe, patient-centered care for residents in the region.

Owatonna Hospital and Allina Hospitals & Clinics are taking a leadership role to promote healthy eating and physical activity through their heart healthy living and obesity initiatives with an emphasis on childhood obesity. Over the next five years, Allina and Owatonna Hospital will be working with community organizations to improve nutrition and increase physical activity to decrease obesity and improve heart health.