New Ulm Medical Center (NUMC) continues to lead as rural medical provider. Roughly 675 people work for NUMC and the clinic in Springfield bringing $145 million to the community each year.

NEW ULM — By the end of 2025, New Ulm Medical Center plans to have its surgical expansion project that was started last year, completed.

The surgical expansion required the renovation of the existing surgical department. Most of the changes are taking place within the current footprint of NUMC, but a slight addition is being added onto the back of the hospital. When complete, the surgical department will have an additional operating room; new pre and post op rooms; an additional procedure room and a new sterile processing area. Allina Health is investing close to $10 million in this project. It is anticipated nearly 20 surgical specialists will be operating in New Ulm longterm.

NUMC director Toby Freier said the project is taking two years to complete because it needs to be done in phases.

“We have to maintain 100% of operation while doing the renovation and expansion,” he said. The surgical expansion is expected to be done by the end of 2025.

The reason for the expansion is to ensure NUMC is able to meet the regional surgical needs. Freier said they anticipate being able to meet the need and potential growth for surgery. Additional surgeons have joined the staff in 2024 to accommodate the growth.

In 2024, New Ulm Medical Center (NUMC) began expansion of its surgical wing. The project will be completed in 2025. Members of NUMC’s team and contractors review the expansion plan. L to R: Tom Larson, Manager, Plant Operations; Ryan Simpson, Superintendent, RJM Construction; Alicia Forstner, Manager, Surgical Services and Carisa Buegler, Director of Operations.

Freier said surgical technology has improved greatly in the last two decades. Twenty years ago, following a surgery a patient would be hospitalized for multiple nights. Today, 85 to 90% of surgery patients can go home the same day. This is why NUMC, a rural medical center, is able to thrive in surgical care.

In looking at the progress made by New Ulm Medical Center (NUMC), Freier took a snapshot look at how things have changed from 2019 to 2024. Effectively, comparing NUMC statistics from before the pandemic to now.

In 2019, NUMC had 117,000 clinic visits and in 2024 there were 144,000 clinic visits spread between the New Ulm and Springfield clinic teams. Of the 144,000 visits, 84,000 were with primary care physicians and 40,000 were with specialty care providers.

Freier said most rural or smaller communities would not have this many specialty visits due to availability.

At the Courage Kenny Rehab Institute there were 48,000 rehab procedures conducted in 2019. In there were 59,000 rehab procedures.

In 2019, there were 1,900 surgical cases. In 2024, there were 2,200 surgical cases on which 102 were done with the assistance of a new DaVinci Surgical Robot.

Freier said at a time when many rural hospitals or clinics have lost services, NUMC has been able to expand and grow by adding specialists at both the New Ulm and Springfield location.

This helps keep services local which eliminate much of the medical travel to the Twin Cities or Rochester for area residents.

Another expansion from 2024, was the new mental health programs. NUMC now offers partial hospitalization and day treatment programs. Freier said the addition to mental health service was to fill the gap between in-patient care and clinic care.

“We have seen success in helping more people,” Freier said.

One area in which all rural healthcare has struggled was availability of Emergency Medical Services. There is a shortage of Emergency Medical Technicians in part due to funding. NUMC worked to fix the shortage by adding an EMT training program. Freier was happy to report, the community responded. Nearly 50 new individuals completed the EMT training to help support the region’s needs.

“I am really proud of how our communities rallied and volunteered to go through 160 hours of education and training, so they could sit through the exam and certification to help in a variety of EMS services around the area,” Freier said. “You’re not going to see that anywhere else in the state.”

Telehealth programs continue to grow at NUMC. Telehealth has been a part of NUMC for over 10 years, but it now has 10 different programs, some of which are 24/7 operations. This has further expanded the ability for specialists to visit with patients. It also limits the amount of medical transfers needed and cuts costs for patients.

In 2024, there were around 10,000 telehealth visits through NUMC.

“If you can keep somebody close to their support system, close to their community and bring that expertise to the care team, we see that as a win for progress,” Freier said.

Looking to the future, Freier said the medical center’s greatest challenges are uncertainty across the healthcare industry. Regulations can change quickly and NUMC has to respond and adapt to the changes. In recent months, several industries have faced the freezing of federal funds or the elimination of programs. Payments and reimbursements provided by the federal government are no longer certain.

Freier said the medical center also needs to keep recruiting and maintaining the best team possible. There is a lot of medical facilities competition for the new personal. NUMC needs to retain staff it has but also attract new healthcare workers.

NUMC is recognized nationally as a model for rural healthcare, offering services not seen outside of medical centers in large communities. Freier credits their success to persistence in doing what is possible, but also building partnerships.

“NUMC wants to collaborate first, and compete second,” He said “We’re not here trying to win anything.

Freier compared NUMC’s approach to team sports. The front of the team jersey has the community name. The back of the jersey has the name of the specific medical organization, whether it is Allina, Mayo or Sleepy Eye Medical Center, but all are playing for the same team.

“We might be identified by the back of the jersey but we are playing for the community,” Freier said.