Photo by Jody Isaackson CEO Tom Kooiman greeted Granite Falls Health open house guests at the door. He is pictured with Sue Tollefson, who is director of payroll for the new facility.

GRANITE FALLS — More than 400 people went through the new Granite Falls Health facility late Wednesday afternoon on self-guided tours.

Along the tour, new employees shared facts about their new job posts and how excited they were about serving the Granite Falls area at this new facility.

In cooperation with Avera-Marshall staff and the Granite Falls Hospital, the new Granite Falls Health was able to remodel the old manor adjacent to the Granite Falls Hospital and move Dr. Vicky Moe and certified nurse practitioner Tamala Schmitz out of the Day Surgery room at the hospital into the new fully-functional facility.

Moe, a family practitioner, said it was exciting for her to have served as a part of the six-woman board that helped “make it happen.”

Moe, along with Schmitz, Vice President of Operations Deena Aus and nurses Sonja Pederson, Connie Remiger and Kelly Quigley had the liberty of designing the layout of the new facility that provides ample room to host visiting specialists from Avera-Marshall.

Specialists, like Dr. Vik Chatrath and his certified physician’s assistant Derek Groeneweg, who were also present at the open house, will be rotating through the new clinic on a bi-weekly basis. Chatrath’s specialty is orthopedics.

“Keeping people close to home for their care is what it’s all about,” Avera-Marshall communications coordinator Stacy Neubeck said.

Other new services that will be provided to the community include orthopedic surgery, podiatry, endocrinology and general surgery, according to CEO Tom Kooiman.

“We’re also looking at ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) services to the community,” Kooiman said, “and sleep studies.”

Kooiman indicated they were filling services that were not presently offered to the Granite Falls community.

Avera director of media relations Jay Gravholt agreed.

“We don’t go into a community unless we’re asked to, and we’ll see if it’s a good fit or not before we do,” he said

The casual open house had refreshments and gifts such as a mini safety kit, a stick-on card carrier for a cell phone or an iPad, notepad and pen.

Granite Falls Health will open officially on Monday and be open five days a week to offer those new services to the community.