Providers at Tri-County Health Care contribute to the success of medical student training and education. Medical doctors from left: Heidi Olson, Bobbi Adams, Ben Hess (back), Laura DuChene (front), Steve Davis, John Pate and Shaneen Schmidt. (Photo Credit: Tri-County Health Care)

Tri-County Health Care has been named a 2020 Clinical Site of Excellence. The program recognizes community and clinical partners who have provided exceptional support for the University of Minnesota Health Sciences learners.

According to a release, award recipients supported students through creating and offering new clinical learning opportunities, helping learners stay on track toward graduation, continued providing education during the pandemic, displaying community service and high-quality communication.

The nomination for the award said, “Wadena has welcomed 3rd year medical students via the RPAP program for many years. The site is committed to training students to provide comprehensive care to rural communities. When the COVID pandemic hit, the Wadena medical staff developed innovative ways to test their patients for COVID and continue to care for their patients safely and continue to educate their medical students. As they have done for years, the site ensured that their students learned the importance of leadership along with medicine. The staff and physicians from Wadena went out of their way to ensure their students could continue to learn and participate in clinical care, despite the overwhelming strain of the pandemic in their community. In addition to a supportive medical staff, Wadena supports their students’ well-being with an incredibly positive atmosphere and a newly remodeled home near the hospital to live in!”

By — Betsy Melin