January 30, 2004

For immediate release

BIGFORK VALLEY: NEW NAME FOR HOSPITAL IN BIGFORK

Northern Itasca Health Care Center has a new name; Bigfork Valley: Hospital, Clinics and Communities.

The new name will help to identify the many different services offered by the hospital, explained CEO Dan Odegaard. "Our customers will know that those services under the Bigfork Valley name - like Bigfork Valley Communities or Bigfork Valley Transportation - are offered by their local community hospital," he said.

For over 60 years the hospital in Bigfork has offered primary care to the surrounding area. But today the hospital has expanded to include many other facilities and services like Pine Tree Villa senior apartments, Northern Pines Communities long term care, Adult Day Stay and Home Health Care.

The new name will not only draw these services together under one easy to recognize name, but also reflect the community it serves. "Many people cannot point to 'Itasca,' but they do know where Bigfork is," Odegaard said.

The new green and grey logo also reflects the surrounding countryside with two rivers meeting under a skyline of evergreens. A sharp eye will see the eagle, symbol of the Edge of the Wilderness, overlooking the river valley. "It's a wonderful logo," said Odegaard. "It contains so many of the symbols that we identify with here in our northland setting."

Bigfork Valley Hospital is the primary health care facility for northern Itasca, western Beltrami and southern Koochiching counties. It has a fully qualified staff which provide hometown style care in a modern facility. The phrase "Bigfork Valley: Where skill meets compassion" has also been adopted as representing the hospital's goal of professional competence in a comfortable and familiar setting.

A hospital committee worked with Minneapolis public relations firm Russell & Herder to develop the new name and logo after a consumer survey conducted during 2003 showed confusion with what services were offered under the former name. Northland Medical Clinic and Northland Dental Clinic are not part of the name change.

Bigfork Valley Hospital, Clinics and Communities is a medical campus located in Bigfork, Minn. The hospital provides inpatient and outpatient care, clinics for on site specialist care and services for seniors including apartment living, a nursing home based on the Eden model, home care and day stay. For more information, call the hospital at (218) 743-3177.