Emergency Care

The Emergency Department at Glacial Ridge Hospital is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We are a Level IV Trauma Center and designated Acute Stroke Ready Hospital. Glacial Ridge Hospital staff are committed to providing our patients with the highest quality of emergency care in an efficient and timely manner. Our team of compassionate board-certified doctors, emergency-trained physician assistants, registered nurses, and other specialty care staff are available at all times. You can feel confident about the emergency care you receive in Glenwood.

By implementing leading-edge technologies such as Telestroke, eEmergency, ePharmacy, and Electronic Medical Records, our patients have a great advantage. With 24-hour access, the local care team can rely on highly-trained experts for support and collaboration when treating trauma, heart attack, stroke, and other critical conditions.

eEmergency

Around-the-clock eEmergency provides our attending physician and nurses immediate access to board-certified emergency physicians and registered nurses. When needed, the support and collaboration our local providers receive from the eEmergency team at Sioux Falls-based Avera Health System enhances patient care and efficiency. Many patients and their families further benefit by receiving advanced medical care here, circumventing transfers to a metropolitan hospital. When a higher level of care is needed, the eEmergency team assists our local staff in arranging and expediting seamless transfers whether by ambulance or helicopter, decreasing time to arrival.

State-of-the-Art Ultrasound Equipment

The Helmsley Charitable Trust granted over $459,000 to help Glacial Ridge Health System purchase the most advanced ultrasound equipment for use in the Emergency Department, Radiology Department, and our 2 rural clinics. Nate Tiedeman, a Nurse Practitioner at Glacial Ridge Hospital’s Emergency Department (ED), shared his excitement. “I feel extremely blessed to work at a rural facility with truly state-of-the-art ultrasound equipment. All of our full-time ED providers were trained on the new Mindray TE X. We continue to work and train closely with ultrasound specialists to enhance and refine our skills for bedside ultrasound. The stethoscope is out; the ultrasound is now the standard of care. In conjunction with Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC), all full-time ED providers at Glacial Ridge have been trained to perform resuscitative transesophageal echocardiograms (TEE). Glacial Ridge and HCMC are the only two EDs in Minnesota with this capability. There are only a handful nationwide.”

Telestroke

As an Acute Stroke Ready Hospital, Glacial Ridge provides the highest level of stroke care available. Through St. Cloud Hospital Stroke Center’s Telestroke program. our staff has immediate access to stroke neurologists for patients suffering acute strokes. Early interventions such as Intravenous tPA medication can quickly be administered to break up clots and reduce the effects of a stroke. Through telestroke, doctors, patients, and their families in the ER at Glacial Ridge are able to see and interact in real-time through a robotic device and camera with the on-call neurologist in St. Cloud, MN. The neurologist can examine the patient as if he or she were right in the room.

For patients, it means they receive a more rapid diagnosis and triage to the most appropriate therapy before the critical treatment time passes. By partnering with the experts at St. Cloud Hospital’s Stroke Center, this state-of-the-art technology enables more patients to stay close to home while receiving the same level of stroke care from a nationally accredited stroke center. When a transfer is necessary for advanced care, expert assistance is already in place.

About tPA
Intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (IV tPA) is the only FDA approved drug for the treatment of acute ischemic strokes. It is considered the first line of treatment for acute ischemic stroke but it must be administered within a 3-hour window from the onset of symptoms to work best.

An Acute Stroke Ready Hospital in Action

* This video featuring Glacial Ridge Hospital’s medical staff and community members was made possible through a grant from the Minnesota Department of Health. The goal is to promote stroke awareness and the hospital’s ability to treat and care for stroke patients. Thank you, Minnesota Department of Health.

Emergency Medical Care Policy

Learn more about our Emergency Medical Care Policy by downloading the PDF: Emergency Medical Care Policy

For general inquiries or to learn more about emergency care, click on the Contact Us button below.

Click on the button below to learn more about our Medical Staff.

Ambulance Service

Glacial Ridge Ambulance provides 24-hour advanced and basic life support services with more than 30 highly-skilled paramedics and EMTs to care for you. For the quickest response time when every minute counts, ambulances are stationed in Glenwood, Starbuck, and Brooten, providing emergency coverage in Pope County and a portion of Stearns County.

Emergency Training Center

Hands-on experience helps you be prepared for a crisis. Glacial Ridge Training Center’s certified instructors provide American Heart Association and EMS approved courses for the public, emergency responders, and healthcare providers. Our instructors not only teach classes; they also provide emergency care for Glacial Ridge Ambulance. Visit Emergency Medical Services for contact information.