You read that right, St. Cloud Surgical is turning FIFTY. We’re officially over the hill, but we’re not slowing down quite yet. In 1972, Dr. Joseph Belshe revolutionized healthcare in Central Minnesota, and we couldn’t be prouder to see the center reach this milestone!
At St. Cloud Surgical Center, we value the impact we have made on our community and its impact on our organization. Without the support, acceptance, and stewardship of those in the Central Minnesota community, St. Cloud Surgical Center would not be what it is today.
A Look At Our Journey
To say a lot can happen in 18,250 days would be an understatement of the century! Since Dr. Joseph Belshe founded our unique center in 1972, we’ve moved locations, changed logos, completed multiple renovations, and more. Take a trip down memory lane with us!
1972 – Dr. Joseph Belshe founded the St. Cloud Surgical Center, and the first procedure is performed on a 7-year-old.
1992 – First pain management procedure performed.
1993 – The Center moves to a new 25,000 sq. ft., nine operating room facility on Northway Drive.
1997 – Milestone: 100,000 total cases!
2002 – The Center expands to create more patient support rooms and two additional operating rooms, resulting in a total of 11 operating rooms and over 36,000 sq. ft.
2004 – First Total Knee Replacement performed at the Center.
2007 – Milestone: 200,000 total cases!
2008 – Surgical Care Affiliates Acquires St. Cloud Surgical Center, making us one of the largest independent surgical providers in the country, working to improve the quality and cost of surgical care nationally.
2009 – First Shoulder Replacement performed.
2013 – Operating Rooms 9 and 11 are remodeled to create larger rooms for robotic orthopedic cases.
2014 – First Outpatient Hip Replacement performed.
2015 – First Mako Robotic Total Knee Replacement performed by Dr. Nessler.
2016 – First Navio-Smith & Nephew Total Knee Replacement performed by Dr. Green.
2016 – First INSPIRE Sleep Apnea Implant Procedure performed by Dr. Hanson.
2016 – Milestone: 300,000 total cases!
2018 – Operating Rooms 7 and 8 are remodeled to accommodate total joint (robotics) and ophthalmology caseload.
We recently sat down with Dr. Trevor McIver and Dr. Joel Shobe, spine surgeons at St. Cloud Surgical Center, to ask a few burning questions about minimally invasive spine surgery. Read on for more information!
From 1996 to 2016, Americans spent an estimated $134.5 billion seeking help for back or neck pain. The cause for such pain? Longevity and lifestyle. While it’s great to see humans living longer, our bodies weren’t designed for such high life expectancy combined with a sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy exercise habits. If you suddenly find yourself in a situation where you’re missing work, losing time with family, or simply not as active as you once were due to discomfort, St. Cloud Surgical Center can help.
Do You Need Spine Surgery?
At St. Cloud Surgical Center, we understand surgery may not always be the best route for patients. Sometimes, therapy, medication, and alternative methods can be beneficial. When it comes to back or neck pain, surgery may become necessary in cases such as disc herniation or bone spurs where a nerve is being pushed upon or pinched.
Whatever the reason for your pain, our highly skilled surgeons will find the cause and provide the best course of action. If surgery becomes your best option, the expertise and ongoing training of McIver, Shobe, and other surgeons at our center, will provide you with the most advanced surgical care available today.
Click here for more on spine procedures performed at St. Cloud Surgical Center.
Traditional Spine Surgery vs. Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery
The main difference between traditional spine surgery and minimally invasive spine surgery is the recovery time. With minimally invasive procedures, patients can recover more quickly after surgery because they are faster, safer, and cause less trauma to muscles and soft tissues of the back. While the long-term benefits of traditional spine surgery and minimally invasive surgery are almost identical, the main difference comes in the weeks to months during the recovery period. Hear more about minimally invasive surgery and recovery from Dr. Trevor McIver.
Benefits of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery
Along with quicker recovery times, minimally invasive spine surgery boasts many additional benefits, including:
Better cosmetic results due to smaller incisions
Less blood loss
Little to non-muscle cutting
Reduced risk of infection
Reduced risk of postoperative pain
Less time for rehab
We can attribute these benefits to the many technological advances that have been made in the last 30 years. Learn more about them from our very own Dr. Joel Shobe.
Next Steps For Relief
If you find yourself among the millions of people with back and neck pain who want solutions, St. Cloud Surgical Center is here for you. As innovative leaders with next-generation technology for spine treatment, our surgeons can safely and effectively perform even the most complex procedures that result in faster recovery times while spending less out-of-pocket.
Struggling to get a good night’s sleep with your CPAP? Learn how Inspire might be able to help during an educational community seminar presented by Dr. Amy Dearking on Wednesday, June 29th at 6:00 p.m.
Inspire is the only FDA-approved obstructive sleep apnea treatment that works inside your body to treat the root cause of sleep apnea with just the click of a button. No mask, no hose, just sleep.
Learn more at our educational event
Presented by: Dr. Amy Dearking St. Cloud Ear, Nose, and Throat Clinic Location: St. Cloud Surgical Center – Entrance A
If any doctor at St. Cloud Surgical Center knows a thing or two about sports injuries, it’s Podiatrist Dr. Ashton Nelsen.
As a former Division II track star at Minnesota State University Mankato, Dr. Nelsen has had her fair share of time on the sideline due to injuries. Her experiences as a student-athlete and love for sports medicine are what led her to a career in Podiatry. As a podiatrist, Dr. Nelsen focuses on everything related to foot and ankle health, including hammertoe corrections, bunion removal, and major ankle surgeries like lateral ligament reconstruction due to ankle sprains.
Ankle Sprains are the most common type of athletic injury, with research suggesting they account for 15-30% of all sports injuries. And while it is common among athletes, ankle sprains can happen during everyday activities too! With those stats, it’s probably safe to say you’ve experienced an ankle sprain or know someone who has, but what exactly happens when you sprain your ankle?
While it may not look like much, the inner workings of your foot and ankle are very complex. Each foot comprises 26 bones, 33 joints, and more than 100 muscles, tendons, and ligaments that work together to provide support, balance, and mobility. When talking about ankle sprains, we focus on the ligaments that help stabilize joints and prevent excessive movement. An ankle sprain can occur when this stabilization is disrupted through an unusual amount of force caused by the twist of your foot, roll of the ankle, or any other movement beyond typical motions.
You may have had a Sprained Ankle if you’ve experienced any of the following:
Inability to weight bear on your ankle
Ankle pain, which can be mild to severe
Decreased range of motion at the ankle joint
Swelling and inflammation
Bruising
A popping sound during a suspected ankle injury
Instability of your ankle in any way (most common with severe sprains)
For many of Doctor Nelsen’s patients, traditional recovery methods like physical therapy, bracing, or something as simple as the R.I.C.E technique will help resolve an ankle sprain. However, one out of every five patients that walk through her door has a severe sprain that can’t be relieved by rest and ice. These types of severe ankle sprains typically result in chronic ankle instability, leading to your ankle going out from under you at any moment, thus causing more damage to the ligaments.
If you find yourself reading this and think you may have chronic instability, all hope is not lost! While rest and relaxation won’t help, a simple surgery using bracing internally may be the ticket to a pain-free way of living. This bracing is a surgical procedure used to reconstruct and augment the body’s own ankle ligament. This procedure was designed to speed up recovery, allow for an immediate range of motion, and result in an ankle that is 3x stronger than your body’s own ligament!
“I always tell patients after this procedure you are more likely to break your ankle than damage the repair site because it is that much stronger!” – Ashton Nelsen, DPM
If you suffer from chronic ankle instability, bracing internally might be the best recommendation for you, especially if you are an athlete. With an average 13-week recovery time compared to 17 weeks from the traditional lateral ankle ligament repair, internally bracing can have you back on the track, mat, rink, or court faster!
Learn more about chronic ankle instability and ligament bracing from Dr. Nelsen in the video below.
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