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Specialty Healthcare for Children

Since 1897, Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare has been making a difference in the lives of children with disabilities.

Gillette Children's provides medical expertise to children with physical and functional disabilities. We treat each child we see in our hospitals and clinics with care, dignity and respect.

The main campus facility, located in St. Paul, Minnesota, sees more than 50,000 patients each year, with more than 1,400 surgeries being performed. In addition to the large number of patients seen at their hospital and clinic locations, Gillette also established its Mobile Assistive Technology Outreach Program.

The Gillette Mobile Outreach Program provides clinics monthly in the Willmar community. There are two main purposes to the mobile outreach services: workshop services and consultations using state-of-the-art assistive technology equipment and devices.

Gillette Technology Center

Since the fall of 1998, Willmar has been an outreach site for the Gillette Mobile Outreach Program. Made possible through the support of the Rice Health Foundation, the Gillette Clinic has been helping improve the lives of countless people in west central Minnesota.

Traveling in specially equipped trucks, staff members from the Gillette Technology Center bring assistive technology services to the clinic sites. The staff members include certified orthotists, certified assistive technology practitioners, seating specialists, adaptive equipment specialists and rehabilitation engineers. The Gillette staff evaluate the needs of the clients for orthoses, seating systems and adaptive equipment.

They can fit and modify:

• Upper and lower limb orthoses
• Spinal orthotics
• Seating systems
• Wheelchairs and other mobility devices
• Protective headgear
• Recreational equipment
• Lap trays

In addition, clients and community healthcare providers can learn how to operate assistive technology equipment, people who attend Gillette's clinics are able to experiment with:

• Augmentative communication devices
• Computer access equipment
• Environmental controls
• Recreational equipment
• Daily living aids

The Willmar Clinic

Everyone is welcome at The Willmar Clinic. The clinic provides treatment and information to people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds. Families, therapists, teachers, counselors and social workers, among others, can receive information from our clinic on assistive technology. We also provide demonstrations and hands-one workshops for the community.

Appointments usually last about 45 minutes. Please bring equipment that you use or would like the staff to assess.

2008 Dates:
January 10 & 11; 21 & 22
February 18 & 19
March 13 & 14; 24 & 25
April 2; 21 & 22
May 5; 14; 21 & 22
June 13; 18 & 19
July 9; 21 & 22
August 12; 18 & 19
September 2
October 10
November 5
December 9

Location

Lakeland Health Center
502 2nd Street SW, Willmar, MN

For more information or to schedule an appointment, call 1-800-578-4266. For directions call (320) 231-5184.
Visit Gillette online at www.gillettechildrens.org