Integrative health care is offered at Unity Hospital campus
By Elyse Kaner
Staff Writer
The Penny George Institute for Health and Healing at Allina’s Unity Hospital campus now offers a holistic approach to health care on an outpatient basis. The institute is located with the Virginia Piper Cancer® Institute in Fridley.
Acupuncture practitioner Noah Frohlich shows a model with meridian points used in acupuncture. Photo by Elyse Kaner
The Penny George Institute, which focuses on mind, body and spirit and taps into the body’s natural healing capabilities, is housed at the Fridley Medical Center at 480 Osborne Road N.E., Suite 200.
But you don’t have to be a patient to benefit from its healing services. Services are open to the public.
The institute now offers acupuncture, fitness consulting and training with an exercise physiologist, integrative medicine consulting with a nurse practitioner, nutrition consulting and therapeutic massage.
“I think it’s been received really well,” said Lori Knutson, director of operations and executive director of Penny George Institute for Health and Healing.
The holistic (therapies that treat a client as a whole person) or integrative approach of complementary health care was first started at the Fridley institute when it opened its doors back in October of 2010.
The therapies complement conventional Western medicine and promote health through education, coaching, self-care and wellness practices.
At this time, Unity offers outpatient services only. But plans are under way to start offering inpatient services in 2012, Knutson said.
Data was not available for the number of Penny George client visits at the Unity campus because of the newness of the facility, Knutson said. But she did note that acupuncture appointments are highly booked at the Penny George Institute, based at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, to help cancer patients deal with pain issues, such as nausea, while undergoing chemotherapy and to enhance health after treatment.
A holistic team
At this time, six licensed practitioners round out the holistic staff at Fridley’s Penny George Institute, including a nurse practitioner, two acupuncturists, a nutritionist, a massage therapist and an exercise physiologist.
The practitioners are highly trained to work with people who have undergone a medical diagnosis.
“The key piece of that is safety,” Knutson said.
Patients at risk for blood clots, for example, require a light massage because a deep tissue massage could result in a blood clot in the lung, according to the WHO website. Patients with low blood platelets require light massages as well because a deep-tissue massage increases the risk of excessive bleeding.
Noah Frohlich, who has studied in Tianjin, China, is one of the acupuncture practitioners at the institute.
“When you get acupuncture, it’s like accessing your own body’s inner pharmacy,” he said.
The ancient Chinese and Egyptian healing technique involves inserting hair-sized stainless steel wire needles ranging in length from .5 to 5 inches into select points along the body’s meridian. The points are linked to certain organs in the body.
Among its many benefits, acupuncture helps increase blood flow and relaxes and restores energy. In addition to benefiting cancer patients, acupuncture can help with depression, fatigue, infertility, insomnia and more, Frohlich said.
It can reduce a client’s need for pain medication, he said.
“We basically try to bring the body back to equilibrium,” Frohlich said.
Mark (last name withheld for privacy reasons), 56, of Coon Rapids has been receiving acupuncture at the institute once a week for about five weeks. He has been diagnosed with cancer, with resultant depression.
“I’m not as depressed,” he said, after undergoing a recent session, which involved Frohlich inserting 20 sterilized needles in strategic areas along Mark’s meridians. He relaxed with the needles in place for 45 minutes in a darkened room. Peaceful flute and harp music enhanced relaxation. When the session was finished, Mark planned to run some errands.
Before receiving the ancient healing art sessions, he would sit for hours at a time feeling sorry for himself, but acupuncture has changed that, he said.
“I’m ready to get on with my day,” Mark said.
Personal goals
Among the other practitioners at the Penny George institute is a nutritionist, who addresses client lifestyles.
She asks such questions as where does the client shop, what types of foods do they purchase, what are their financial resources and who’s cooking the meals to get better insight into the client.
“It’s really a holistic perspective,” Knutson said.
An exercise physiologist partners with clients to work on endurance, balance, strength and flexibility. He develops a program to help clients set personal goals based on their needs.
A less active patient might need help in navigating the stairs, for example, while a distance runner with cancer might set up more rigorous program goals to help him or her return to an active lifestyle, Knutson said.
The institute also offers a weight management program.
“We really talk about body remodeling rather than weight management,” Knutson said. The program includes coaching, nutrition, looking for ways to improve physical activity and mindful eating.
The emotional piece is addressed as well. For instance, a coach talks with a patient about what drives him or her to eat.
“A synergy”
The institute’s integrative healing services are covered by insurance, with the exception of massage. However, the services are covered only if a client has a medical diagnosis and a physician orders the sessions.
Massage is not covered because it is not a licensed profession in Minnesota at this time, Knutson said.
Knutson said evidence of holistic healing has been around for a long time, but it is now becoming mainstream. Health systems are now realizing the benefits.
“I think there’s a synergy here,” she said.
“For Allina to take this on is a huge statement that we want to serve them (the community) in a holistic way,” Knutson said.
Penny George and her husband William George co-founded the Penny George Institute for Health and Healing at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis.
William George is former chairman and chief executive officer of Medtronic. Penny, a psychologist for more than 20 years, is also co-founder of Bravewell Collaborative, a national group of philanthropists dedicated to transforming health care through integrative health principles.
The Penny George Institute for Health and Healing program has become the largest inpatient-based integrative health program in the country, according to the website www.georgefamilyfoundation.org.
For more information and fees for services at the Penny George Institute for Health and Healing located at Unity Hospital’s Fridley campus, visit www.allinaunity.org.
Click on hospital services, then click on “P” followed by Penny George Institute for Health and Healing or call 763-236-5656
Elyse Kaner is at elyse.kaner@ecm-inc.com
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