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Rice Memorial Hospital
Celebrating
75 Years of Regional Patient Care
1937 - 2012
In 1937, Rice Memorial Hospital was built with a trust from Colonel Cushman Rice in memory of his parents, Lieutenant Governor and Mrs. Albert Rice. During the next 75 years it grew to become the largest city-owned hospital in Minnesota. Rice is currently a Level 3 Trauma hospital and its service area encompasses 14 counties, providing healthcare coverage to a quarter of a million people.
The original 37-bed hospital cost less than $200,000. It began with 19 employees and eight medical staff. The first building addition occurred in 1943; the hospital expanded to 60 patient beds, 81 employees and 18 medical staff. A second addition took place in 1957 at a cost of $900,000. Patient beds increased to 102, medical staff to 25, and employee staff to 134. Rice was desginated as a regional hospital by the Minnesota Department of Health.
During the 1960s, Rice added dialysis, pathology, physical therapy, nuclear medicine and an intensive and coronary care unit to its expanding service line. A third edition went up in 1973 at a cost of $4.5 million, increasing patient beds to 159. Staff count reached 512 and medical staff grew to 49. Healthcare services added during the 1970s included occupational, speech and respiratory therapies, telemetry, mammography, ultrasound, mental health, chaplaincy, infection control and patient education.
Outpatient services increased in the 1980s, causing Rice to add a fourth addition and remodel to meet changing regional healthcare needs. The expansion cost $12 million. Rice was designated as a regional hospital emergency medical service center and regional trauma center for southwest Minnesota. A cancer center was added in 1986 at a cost of $1.7 million.
The most recent building expansion project, begun in 2001, cost more than $50 million and included a renovation of the entire hospital campus. It was designed to meet and exceed the expectations of its regional healthcare community.
Rice has developed into a state-of-the-art facility with a beautiful, healing environment that enhances quality clinical care. As a result of the remodel, there are now 100 private and spacious patient rooms, each with large windows and a foldout couch. Throughout the hospital, sights, sounds, colors and textures all come together to create comfortable and familiar surroundings that nourish the whole person - body, mind and spirit. It is a progressive way of envisioning healthcare delivery where the environment supports healing and reduces stress in the lives of patients and their families.
The Rice Health Foundation was created in 1986 by members of the hospital board and the community to provide expanded healthcare optioins to the hospital and community. Through philanthrophy, the foundation supports the vitality and quality of care of Rice Memorial Hospital.
Today, Rice employs more than 900 staff and provides dozens of specialty inpatient and outpatient services. Two hundred medical staff maintain active and affiliate privileges, representing 35 medical specialties.
As technology and services have expanded, Rice has continued to make those services accessible and affordable to other hospitals and clinics in its 14-county region. In addition to the Willmar area, Rice Hospice has seven satellite offices which serve the communities of Appleton, Benson, Dawson, Granite Falls, Montevideo, Ortonville/Graceville, and Paynesville. Laboratory outreach is provided in more than 30 hospitals and clinics, while mobile ultrasound and nuclear medicine continue to expand to meet outreach needs.
Its medical equipment business, Rice Home Medical, has expanded to include five retail locations: Willmar, Glenwood, Madison, Alexandria, and Redwood Falls. Rice worked with area physicians to build an ambulatory surgery facility, Willmar Surgery Center.
Rice remains committed to education and encourages and supports the pursuit of healthcare careers, especially in rural Minnesota. We support our local community college through active intern and job shadow programs. We offer clinical experiences for a number of healthcare professions, including medical, advanced practice nursing, physician assistants, pharmacy, laboratory, and therapy. As a leading referral hospital in our area, Rice partnered with the University of Minnesota to establish two important educational programs: The Southern Minnesota Area Health Education Center and the Rice Regional Dental Clinic.
Owned by the City of Willmar, the hospital is governed by a seven member hospital board appointed by the mayor. It is accredited by The Joint Commission and is a member of the American Hospital Association, Minnesota Hospital Association, Medi-sota, and VHA. Rice is truly positioned to continue its mission to restore and promote the health and well-being of residents and communities of west central and southwest Minnesota well into the future.
