Standing in the new operating room # 4 is Dr. Phong Truong, Orthopedic Surgeon.

NEW ULM – Last year New Ulm Medical Center accomplished a three year goal of finishing its expansion to its surgical ward.

The expansion cost $10 million and added an operating room, procedure room, four surgical patient rooms, expanded the sterile processing area and added storage. The actual construction process took 18 months. The entire time the medical center continued performing surgical procedures.

NUMC director Carisa Buegler said it was tricky scheduling procedures during the expansion, but since the project was completed in December, the medical center has been able to offer greater surgical access.

In additional to the physical expansion, the surgical department has been making greater use of technology. For the last two years, NUMC has been using a DaVinci Surgical Robot for precision operations, but in recent months has added a Cori surgical robot that assists orthopedics with knee replacements.

On the personnel side, NUMC has added several physicians and medical specialists including Dr. Jordan Ramage and Dr. Phong Trung in orthopedics, Dr. Ben Tonsager in podiatry, Dr. Nneka Chukwu in rheumatology, Dr. Kristina Fischer and Dr. Tawanna King in family practice; Nurse Practitioner Ashley Wieland and Nurse Practitioner Danielle Haime in Mental Health and Physical Therapist Jessical Kral and Physical therapist Eileen Connal to The Physical Therapy Department.

Carisa Buegler was appointed the new director of New Ulm Medical Center on Feb. 11.

NUMC also saw a major internal promotion this year. Buegler was official appointed as NUMC director on Feb. 11. She was serving as the interim director of NUMC following the departure of previous director Whitney Johnson, who was promoted to vice president of Operations at Abbott Northwestern Hospital.

Buegler worked at NUMC for more than 20 years in several leadership roles. Most recently, she served as the director of operations where she helped guide longterm planning, oversaw major building updates, supported staff engagement and led clinical and support service teams. She supported the opening of the Springfield and Lamberton clinics in 2020. Before she was the director of operations, she served as NUMC’s director of Foundation and Community Engagement, where she led major fundraising projects, built community partnerships and supported local health improvement efforts.

Buegler said through her involvement, she developed strong roots in the community, which includes Springfield and Lamberton which are part of the Allina Healthcare system along with NUMC.

She thanked the many mentors at NUMC who helped her along the way. Buegler also thanked the medical center advisory board and physician leaders in selecting her for the directors position.

“I am ecstatic to get started,” Buegler said.

Buegler said one the best parts of working with NUMC is the staff.

“Everyone is so compassionate,” she said. “New employees often comment that everyone here is friendly and happy.”

Buegler said NUMC does strive to make the medical center a positive place to visit. Often people coming the medical center are doing so under less than ideal circumstances. The medical center wants to make the visit as pleasant as possible.

Another goal is to create the best healthcare access possible for the region. Buegler said in addition to their work expanding surgical access, the medical center has worked to increase access to mental health services. NUMC now offers mental health programs for in-patient, partial hospitalization, day treatment services and out-patient treatment. The idea is people seeking mental health service need every opportunity to find help.

Currently, NUMC employs around 700 people across its Allina facilities in New Ulm, Lamberton and Springfield. NUMC was once again listed as a top 20 critical access hospital in the country, placing in the top 2% of hospitals.