Summer Internship: New Ulm Medical Center

Spending the day in meetings at one of Allina's
 beautiful facilities (St. Francis Regional Medical Center)
By: Morgan Smith (MHA/MBA '17)
I am spending my summer in lovely little New Ulm, MN, interning at the New Ulm Medical Center (NUMC). This internship has allowed me to experience first-hand the trials and victories of a rural medical center that is truly living the “triple aim” – through excellent patient care and experience, as well as consistent efforts to reduce costs and boost value to all stakeholders.

NUMC is a thriving part of Allina Health – a large integrated healthcare system that operates throughout the state of Minnesota and even dips into Wisconsin.

Being a part of a larger system affords NUMC cost-savings, efficiency, and protection in many areas. For example, payer relations (negotiations) operate at a system rather than hospital level. However, being a small medical center in a 12 hospital and 61 clinic system means that NUMC’s senior leadership team has to actively advocate on behalf of the system, it’s patients, and community. Striking an appropriate balance between standardization and customization between the different sites of Allina is an activity that necessitates constant engagement at the regional and system levels.

I’ve been lucky to work on a wide variety of projects and shadow a variety of roles. For example, I’ve coordinated with providers at NUMC as well as project managers from Allina corporate to help push NUMC’s Telehealth program forward (another example of NUMC living the triple aim by integrating with the larger Allina system to provide value to their community). I’ve also created several financial analyses to aid in decisions about bringing additional providers on-board. I had the opportunity to shadow a float nurse, a “CEO Summit,” and was able to present to the Board of Directors during my first month on the job.

It’s been a whirlwind experience and my next few weeks are packed full of shadowing opportunities, meetings all over the state of Minnesota, and projects to complete! The work is fulfilling, but so is my free time outside of work. New Ulm is an adorable historic German town, with beautiful running/biking paths. I’ve also been able to travel to Minneapolis frequently (less than a 2 hour drive!) to enjoy the vibe of my favorite city on earth. 

I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!

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