Oct. 10, 2005

From expert heart and vascular care to specialists in cancer care; from emergency room services to outpatient surgery, Fairview Southdale Hospital has provided quality health care for the southwest metro Twin Cities since 1965. Fairview Southdale Hospital played an important role in the history and growth of Edina, being the first satellite hospital in the nation.

1965 – Oct. 1, Fairview Southdale Hospital held its grand opening, exactly two years after its groundbreaking. In the first year, 2,251 babies were delivered and nearly 5,000 surgical procedures were performed.

1968 – It was announced that construction would begin on a $3.3 million expansion that eventually expanded Fairview Southdale to eight stories with space for more than 165 beds.

1969 – Fairview Southdale Hospital opens three of the eight stories.

1970s – Fairview Southdale Hospital introduces psychiatric services for adolescents and adults, as well as a hospice program for terminally ill. 

1975 – A 50,000-square-foot, $4.6 million addition was completed at Fairview Southdale.
It added a 17-bed intensive care unit, new
operation rooms, a post-anesthesia room
and an expanded emergency room and outpatient
surgery department.  

1980s – Fairview Southdale introduced the Eye Center, with services ranging from repairing retinas to treating glaucoma.  Through these and other new services, Fairview Southdale evolved in the 1980s from a community hospital with mostly family services to a medical center providing all but the most specialized treatments.

1983 – Fairview Southdale Hospital opened the Heart Center, located in a 36-bed unit over the emergency room. The center included a cardiac pacemaker laboratory and a nuclear cardiograph service. It soon began performing open-heart surgery and coronary angioplasty, a non-surgical technique for opening constricted heart vessels.

1990s – In the early ‘90s, the emergency room Fast Track was created, using the endoscopy space from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m., back then it was referred to as the “White Pod.” With the completion of the west expansion in 2001, endoscopy moved and this space was dedicated to Fast Track. 

2001 – Growing with the changing needs of our community, the Fairview Southdale Heart and Vascular Center was built in 2001 and ranks in the top 1 percent in the nation for heart attack survival rates, elevating us to one of the premier cardiovascular hospitals in the country.

2003 – Weight loss surgery program was created to provide an effective alternative for individuals interested in achieving significant, long-term weight loss. More than 315 weight loss surgeries have been completed.

2004 – The Children’s Care Center opened with an innovative and exciting care model, offering family-centered care for children two days to 18 years of age. Patients come from a few blocks away or as far away as Alaska and New Zealand. The addition of five state-of-the-art minimally invasive surgical suites, provided space for more than 100 different types of procedures to be performed.

2005 – In September Fairview Southdale Hospital broke ground on a $30 million expansion and renovation of the entire operating department, to create 25 operation rooms, new waiting areas for families, rehabilitation and post-op care and more.

Today, more than 3,300 babies are born here each year, and many of those children are second and third generations welcomed into our community. Our Birthplace includes 15 labor and delivery rooms, separate mother-baby rooms, an on-site special care nursery, lactation consultants, expertise in premature births and multiple birth amenities.

Originally know as an outstanding community hospital where children were born, Fairview Southdale Hospital has evolved into a specialty health care center, leading the nation in heart attack and stroke survival, orthopedic surgery and oncology services. Fairview Southdale Hospital has one of the top surgical departments in Minnesota, providing general and specialized surgeries to people throughout the state. For 40 years, we’ve put the needs of our patients first, providing exceptional care to each patient everyday.

Celebrating 40 years of service
Mary Bardal, ortho/neuro
Ruth Fadala, nursing administration
Carol Galchutt, pathology lab
Diane Hackett, surgical specialties
Janet Henefield, perioperative services
Barbara Kotts, clinical lab
Virginia Kummer, administration
Cynthia Rutland, The Birthplace
Judith Sager, radiology and imaging
Judith Schoenrock, The Birthplace
Karen Stanger, Heart Center
Georgia Youngquist, nursing administration

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