Month: August 2020

The substantial construction of the new RiverView Hospital was completed on July 17, and the staff is now able to start moving into the new facility slowly.  The hospital will officially open its doors when patients are transferred from the old hospital into the new building on October 25.

Mortenson Construction manager Jason Toso said it’s nice to see the building coming two life after two years. “We still have a lot going on, but it’s exciting to see things come to life with furniture moving in, a lot of the finishes getting down, and just wrapping up,” said Toso. “I have to take a moment quite often to think I’ve been a part of this Crookston team for two years now. It’s surreal to see it grown from rigid insulation rooms that we built to take a look at a mockup into the actual thing.”

Toso also added that the crew, which was at 90-100 people over the past five months, would shrink over the coming weeks and months. “For probably about the past five months, we’ve been running pretty steady with about 90-100 people on-site,” said Toso. “Since we reached our goal of allowing our customer to begin their move in on July 17, we are seeing a downturn as individuals complete their work and move on to other endeavors. If memory serves me correctly, I believe we have 33 miles of electrical wire running throughout the facility.”

The wiring includes many systems such as individually controlled delivery lights in the labor and delivery area, to white noise systems in-patient rooms to help them block out the noise from the corridor to sleep. The building will feature a 48-exam room out-patient clinic broken down into family practice and specialty pods on the main floor. RiverView’s Chief Operating Officer Chris Bruggeman explained doctors and nurses would work from centralized pods from which they will enter exam rooms. “Our new clinic space is four different pods with an on-stage, off-stage model,” said Bruggeman. “When you come to see a doctor in the clinic, you’ll get directed to one of the four different entrances, and the doctor will come from a work core area on the backside of the exam room to go through your appointment and take care of your needs that way.”

The second floor will house the in-patient units for overnight hospital stays featuring 21 rooms, including four ICU rooms.  The story will also include labor and delivery, as well as four family suites, explains Bruggeman. “We have 21 total patient rooms,” said Bruggeman. “Three of those are labor and delivery rooms for new moms. Then we have 18 other general patient rooms and four additional family suites. They are actually like an adjoining hotel suite that you’ll be able to stay in and be in close proximity to your loved one in the event you need to stay in the hospital with them. It’s a nice amenity that we haven’t see too often in this region or the country.”  

The second floor also offers views of the Red Lake River to the east and a rooftop green space to the west.  Another added feature is a new infant security system. Bruggeman said providing more security for moms and babies was something RiverView had wanted to do for a while. “One of the enhancements is a new infant security system,” said Bruggeman. “Moms can be assured that no one will be coming and going into our secure zone while you’re up having a baby. We have a lot of tracking, alarming, and security in place to help alleviate some of those concerns. It’s something we wanted to do for a long-time, and it made sense to incorporate it into this new project.”

The security system will limit access to labor and delivery rooms to hospital staff, patients, and approved visitors using coded scanners.  Additionally, draws for lab work, x-rays, and the pharmacy will all have new locations centralized to the exam rooms reducing patient’s steps taken within the hospital.  And the new hospital adjoins to the current OR and surgery areas within the existing facility.

Staff will begin simulating hospital activities in the facility in a couple of weeks. Bruggeman said all the processes and procedures need to be tested to make sure they work before patients are in the building. “Near the end of August, most of the construction will be wrapped up, and we go into this period of orientation and training,” said Bruggeman. “All of these spaces are new to the staff as well, so in order to ensure that we have high-quality care delivery that you’re used to. We have to go through that training process, so they’ll get trained on new equipment, procedures, processes that are different from what they’re doing now so that we’re ready to serve patients when we open our doors at the end of October.”

Mortenson will stay on-site into November as after the physicians and other hospital staff move into the new building. Then, their former offices will be converted into the new pharmacy located off the new hospital’s northern corridor.  

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On October 24-25, Rydell National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) will again be hosting a special Mentored Youth Deer Hunt for kids age 12-15, in cooperation with the Minnesota DNR. Rydell is the only NWR in Minnesota that offers this special “mentored” deer hunting opportunity. A total of 15 youth will be allowed to participate in this hunt. Participating youth will be required to hunt with a parent, guardian, or mentor. They will be allowed to harvest up to three deer on the Refuge; only one of which can be antlered. One requirement for youth hunt participants is that they complete a mandatory orientation session. Normally, this session is held at the Refuge Visitor Center on the Sunday prior to the hunt. However, this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the orientation will be done either virtually or through mailed out materials.  Successful hunt applicants will be informed of the final decisions related to the orientation, as well as other potential changes to the hunt which are necessary, due to COVID-19.

Interested youth must apply for this hunt no later than Aug. 14th. Applications can be completed at any DNR license agent or online at www.mndnr.gov/buyalicense.

For more information on this unique hunting opportunity, go to https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/hunting/deer/youth-deer-hunts.html or contact Gregg Knutsen, Refuge Manager, at 218-686-4329 / gregg_knutsen@fws.gov

Additionally, Rydell NWR has hosted a three-day Accessible Deer Hunt, for people with disabilities each year, since the mid-1990s. This year, the hunt will be held on October 8-10. The hunt is primarily coordinated by the Options Interstate Resource Center for Independent Living (Options) in East Grand Forks, MN. If you are interested or know someone who might be interested in participating in this Accessible Deer Hunt, contact Randy Sorenson (Options’ Executive Director) at 800-726-3692, for information on how to apply.

Fall Driver Education will begin in August this year NOT October.  Students will need to be at least 15 years old by December 31, 2020.  Fall Driver Education registration forms are due back no later than Tuesday, August 18th, 2020, at 4:30 p.m.  The first session of the class will be Wednesday, August 19th, 2020 beginning at 4:30 p.m. and ending at 7:30 p.m.  Please see the 2020 Fall Driver Education Registration for further information.

In 2019, Brylee Lessard made a tribute to her late grandpa, Alois Schmitz of Red Lake Falls, who served in the U.S. Army for a 4-H project winning a blue ribbon and reserved champion at the Minnesota State Fair. The project was donated to the Lengby VFW after the fair, but with the VFW closing, the project needed a new home.

Lessard made a number of projects over the years in 4-H reflecting her patriotism.  The project also originally included a set of dog tags hung on the cross and those have been given to her grandma Dorine Schmitz to keep. The project’s new home is the Crookston Inn. People are welcome to stop by the Crookston Inn to view the project.

Due to COVID-19, Crookston Public Schools will not be holding the annual “Welcome Back to School” registration day this year.

Registration packets and forms will be mailed out to students and families next week.  Registration forms are also available online at www.crookston.k12.mn.us.
Forms are due back by Thursday, August 20 and curbside drop-off will be available on August 20 at the schools from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Crookston High School (grades 7-12) – 402 Fisher Avenue – Phone 281-2144
Highland Elementary School (grades 1-6) – 801 Central Avenue – Phone 281-5600
Washington Elementary School (Pre-K – K) – 724 University Avenue – Phone 281-2762

If the August 20 drop-off date doesn’t work, appointments can be made to drop off the completed forms at any of the buildings.  If you have any questions, contact the Crookston School District Office at 281-5313, or any of the school offices. 

New families to the District will need to contact one of the schools for assistance.

On Thursday, August 6, at approximately 9:15 a.m., officers of the Grand Forks Police Department were dispatched to an in-progress burglary at the Rite Spot Liquor store located at 1901 South Washington Street.  According to store employees, they were stocking coolers when they observed the suspect enter and walk through the store.  The suspect then goes behind the counter and takes an undisclosed amount of money from the cash box and exits the store without having any contact with employees. The suspect was last seen going Northbound through a parking lot. No weapon was displayed nor any threats made.

The suspect is described as: black male; approximately 5’10 weighing 170 pounds; wearing a Blue T-Shirt and Cream colored shorts; wearing a blue face mask which covered the lower portion of the suspects face.

This is still an active and on-going investigation.  There are no known threats to the general public.

Anyone with any information regarding this case is asked to contact the police department by one of the following methods:

Call:  701-787-8000
Online:  Submit a tip via the GFPD’s Facebook or website
App:  Submit a tip via the Tip411 app