Surgery Open House Gives Insider Look Into St. Cloud Hospital

ST. CLOUD - The surgery center at St. Cloud Hospital gave people a rare behind the scenes look into the operating rooms.

Hundreds of people lined up for the chance to hear and learn from surgeons, nurses and their support team. The surgery center is not open to people who are not patients throughout the year.

While many people just wanted a chance to see what goes on every day in the operating room. Denise Getting, an RN in the surgery center says it's also a great chance for students to get a look at a possible future career in healthcare.

"As we know the medical field is always growing and there's a lot of opportunities for jobs. Young students don't usually get a chance to see the operating rooms. Tonight they get the chance to see what it is about."

Getting is also the coordinator for the event says all the employees working the event volunteered to be there. She says most employees want to be a part of the event so they can show central Minnesotans the top class care they receive in the surgery center.

"People used to think St. Cloud Hospital was just a fly-over hospital. But we actually handle almost all of central Minnesota's traumas and our surgeons and staff are so well-equipped to deal with anything that comes through the door. We don't have to ship people out like we used to."

During the open house, those who attended could walk into the operating rooms and learn about the cutting edge technology and showcase all the specialty surgeries the hospital performs.

After recently adding 10 new operating rooms, St. Cloud Hosptial now has 25 operating rooms.