Media

For Immediate Release

Contact: Jessica Schiff, Marketing and Communications Coordinator
219.529.7985 / jschiff@sisunet.org

St. Michael's Hospital joins SISU as newest Associate Member

SISU Medical Systems is proud to welcome St. Michael's Hospital of Sauk Centre, Minn. as our newest Associate Member.

"So far, we like what we've seen (in working with SISU)," St. Michael's CEO Del Christianson said. "I think the relationship will be a help to us as we move forward in trying to meet the meaningful user definitions and be eligible for stimulus dollars...we thought that doing it ourselves was more than we wanted to take on."

St. Michael's, a designated critical access hospital, runs the MEDITECH 5.55 platform and will receive contracted support from SISU as they move forward with implementations, trainings, and customizations. The hospital also has an attached independent clinic, an independent living facility, a 60-bed long term care facility, a home care department, and a hospice program.

"We made a decision about four years ago to move to a new system, and we decided MEDITECH was the right solution for us," Christianson explained. "Once we got into more of the clinical applications, with patient care and the physician piece, we felt it was time to get involved with someone who's been through it before, get their expertise, and not reinvent the wheel."

Prior to joining SISU, representatives from St. Michael's visited two other SISU member sites to see how the nearly fully electronic system looks and to get impressions from the staff that are using it. Christianson credits those visits as catalysts for pursuing a relationship with SISU.

"It's nice to partner with other independent hospitals," Christianson said.

"As we continue to expand the scope of services SISU offers, the relationship with St. Michael's Hospital is a landmark in our associate membership," SISU CEO Dianne Mandernach said. "St. Michael's is the first Associate Member to be utilizing the MEDITECH C/S platform prior to partnering with SISU. We're proud to have the opportunity to support the hospital's healthcare technology goals."

"SISU's Associate Membership option remains a cost-effective support system for hospitals that utilize just about any healthcare information system," Mandernach explained. "I believe the knowledge, experience, and services we offer our members at all levels ultimately leads to them being able to provide better patient care."

Other Associate Members include Grand Itasca Hospital in Grand Rapids, Minn., and RiverView Health in Crookston, Minn.