Views from inside Vision Northland

The new St. Mary’s Medical Center is filling up with more equipment each day.

Vision Northland, the project to replace the current hospital, is now in the activation phase.

Jill Cernohous, Transition Operations Director for Vision Northland, shared, “We are setting up the building. We’re testing the building, and our workflows. And getting our staff comfortable with the care that they will provide to patients.’

On Tuesday, we took a tour. The finishing touches make it feel like an upscale hotel, versus a hospital, in some areas.

“This is a place that was designed to bring the outside in, to help our patients heal and help keep our colleagues refreshed,” explained Dr. David Herman, CEO of Essentia Health.

Crews put in 2.7 million hours of work on the $900 million dollar project.

Dr. Robert Erickson, Physician Lead on the project, said he’s practiced at St. Mary’s for 34 years now. “It’s really served us well. But again, when we try to adjust to new technology and current technology, we knew that we just couldn’t in the future continue this way. We are blessed to be where we’re at, with this new hospital.”

The plan is to open the new hospital for patient care in the 3rd quarter. Equipment will be done first, then patients.