Join us as we get to know Lake Region Healthcare’s newest member of the women’s health team, Dr. Marie Johnson, OB/GYN. Dr. Johnson shares her background in high-risk obstetrics and fertility care and how her personal experience with IVF fueled her passion for helping women with fertility.  She also explains how practice will cover the full spectrum of women’s health from adolescent care and pregnancy to menopause, with a specialized focus on fertility treatments.

Get to know Lake Region Healthcare’s newest General Surgeon, Dr. William Schertzing. On today’s episode we talk with him about his philosophy for holistic patient care based on shared decision-making and the importance of clear, comprehensive patient education. He also shares how he specifically sought a rural practice in Minnesota to be closer to family and wants to keep his surgical practice broad to serve the community effectively, reducing the need for patients to travel for specialized care.

Our guest today is Nurse Practitioner Kayla Valdez from Lake Region Healthcare's neurology department, who shares expertise on the diagnosis, management, and treatment of headaches. The conversation covers the common types of headaches, particularly tension and migraine headaches, and the importance of proper diagnosis for effective treatment. It also touches on various treatment options from over-the-counter medications to prescription drugs, Botox and non-medication devices as well as the importance of lifestyle interventions, the risks of medication overuse, and the need to reduce the stigma associated with migraine as a serious neurological disease.

Meet, Keri Anderson, our newest physician assistant joining the emergency department at the Elbow Lake Medical Center. Keri shares her background, including her non-linear career path from nursing to cosmetology and back to medicine. She talks about her passion for the unpredictability of emergency medicine, her patient-centered philosophy of care, and explained the role of a Level Four Trauma Center. She also touched on her emerging interest in hormone therapy, her personal hobbies, and provided a health tip for listeners.

Paige Fritz is a Physician Assistant and is joining Lake Region Healthcare to serve as a Physician Extender for Dr. Dennis Gerold, Dr. Kristina England, and Susie Berg, PA. She's a Dalton, MN native and is excited to be back home to establish her PA practice here with these exceptional providers. Listen in to learn more about Paige, about the role of a Physician Extender, and to hear how Paige plans to use her background as a Medical Laboratory Technician to better serve her patients.

Today we welcome Dillon Boen, PA as the newest member of our growing medical staff. Dillon shares what led him to a career in medicine after growing up helping his parents run the “Bluebird Gardens” farm near Fergus Falls. He talks with us about his previous work in cardiology, his new dual role in internal medicine and cardiology at Lake Region Healthcare, and his patient care philosophy centered on listening and building relationships. He also shared his interests in preventive medicine and his personal hobbies, including coaching Brazilian Jiujitsu.

Today’s guest is Emily Janochoski, the newest nurse practitioner joining the family practice team at Lake Region Healthcare. Emily shares her motivation for becoming a nurse practitioner, her patient care philosophy, and the types of appointments she’ll be offering to patients of all ages. She also lets us in on one of her favorite hobbies, her dahlia garden and the hummingbirds it attracts!

Dr. Steven Moore from the LRH Urology department joins us for September, National Prostate Health Month, to discuss the symptoms, screening, and treatment of prostate issues including background on the controversy around PSA screening. He also emphasizes the importance of shared decision making between patients and providers as a crucial aspect of prostate cancer treatment and recognition.

Dr. Herold-Ordonez has returned to his home state of Minnesota to join the General Surgery team at Lake Region Healthcare. Listen in to hear more about his background, motivations for pursuing medicine and surgery, his patient care philosophy, the types of procedures he’ll perform, and his special interest in helping people find relief from hemorrhoid problems.

National Immunization Awareness Month: Addressing Vaccine Questions, Concerns & Misconceptions

Dr. Ibrahim Khan, a primary care family medicine physician at Lake Region Healthcare, joins us for this discussion during National Immunization Awareness Month.  We ask Dr. Khan about the most common patient concerns about vaccines, how he approaches these conversations, the evidence supporting vaccine effectiveness and safety, and his responses to specific claims about vaccine ingredients, natural immunity, and mRNA technology.