Gundersen Lutheran Health System

Description

Values Vision Mission
MISSION
We distinguish ourselves through excellence in patient care education research and through improved health in the communities we serve

VISION
We will be a Health System of excellence nationally recognized for improving the health and wellbeing of our patients and their communities

VALUES
IntegrityPerform with honesty responsibility and transparency

ExcellenceAchieve excellence in all aspects of delivering healthcare

RespectTreat patients families and coworkers with dignity

InnovationEmbrace change and new ideas

CompassionProvide compassionate care to patients and families

History

History
In 1995 Gundersen Clinic and Lutheran HospitalLa Crosse formed Gundersen Lutheran Inc

The origins of Gundersen Lutheran really can be traced back the 19th Century when frontier attitudes about culture manners and medicine prevailed At that time there were some medical doctors but most received their degrees from diploma mills The exception was Adolf Gundersen whose European training quickly placed him as the citys premiere physician

His reputation as a surgeon grew so great that it was often said that the life cycle in La Crosse consisted of birth christening an operation by Gundersen and much later hopefully death

Before the Lutheran Hospital opened in 1902 many of the early operations were performed in patients homes When local clergy first planned construction of a new hospital Gundersen recognized the opportunity and served as the hospitals first medical director

Setting precedents

In 1917 an event forever changed the practice of medicine in La Crosse and perhaps the nation Upset about the incompetent medical practice of some physicians Dr Gundersen went to the hospital board to ask that his firm have control over who was to practice medicine at Lutheran Later other doctors in La Crosse who were not admitted to the staff sued taking their battle to the Wisconsin Supreme Court That decision became a national precedent when the court agreed hospitals should be allowed to set their own criteria for membership on their medical staff

Among other innovations were typewritten patient records dating back to the 1920s Having legible records has proved to be a boon decades later because it allowed for the study of many medical problems through research

Other precedents were set in 1930 when the Gundersen practice was moved from over a downtown drug store to a new 17000square foot clinic building adjacent to the hospital so the doctors could be where the patients are

National attention came to Lutheran Hospital in 1961 when every patient and every staff member was evacuated safely after a threealarm fire broke out on the first floor What brought the attention however was the carefully laid safety plans that had been put into place shortly before the event Other hospitals wanted to model their own plans after what Lutheran had done

Facilities Expansion

It was clear Gundersen and Lutheran both served a market far larger than La Crosse a reason both the clinic and hospital which is now licensed for 325 beds had expanded multiple times in their histories

The most recent expansion is the new East Building occupied in 2003 This building consolidates cancer services in a new Gundersen Lutheran Cancer Center and will be home to other clinical and surgical services

Education

Admittedly there were some tax benefits when three physician sons of Gundersen Clinic founder Adolf Gundersen MD created Gundersen Medical Foundation in 1944 as a tribute to their parents it is now known as Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation

However the Foundations education and later research opportunities not only made it possible to keep staff members up to date in the latest in medicine they could also attract specialists and subspecialists from universities and large cities These specialists found they appreciated the high quality and compassionate medicine practiced here along with the opportunity to teach and perform research