Expert Heart Care, Close to Home

By Sheila Helmberger

Expert cardiology care is closer than you think.

Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute in Baxter offers expert cardiovascular care from respected professionals and sub-specialists while allowing you to keep your appointments close to home.

The cardiologist group, based out of Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, has been coming to the area for decades. Their presence has grown to include specialized services, establishing them as a fixture in the local medical community.

Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute also hosts several sub-specialists who travel to the Baxter clinic to see patients.

“The sub-specialists that I work with through the Minneapolis Heart Institute are internationally recognized in their specialties,” said Dirks. These include physicians who specialize in structural heart disease, interventional cardiology, and heart failure, as well as transplant specialists, electrophysiologists, vascular surgeons, a pulmonary hypertension specialist, and cardio thoracic surgeons.

Today the group serves as the primary cardiology provider for Baxter, Riverwood Healthcare Center in Aitkin, Cuyuna Regional Medical Center in Crosby, and Lakewood Health System in Staples.

Dr. Timothy Dirks is a Cardiovascular Disease Specialist who works at the clinic in Baxter. He says local staff provide services such as stress tests, noninvasive angiograms, cardioversions to restore heart rhythms and other nonsurgical procedures.

In addition to the extensive cardiology services offered at the Baxter clinic and neighboring facilities,

“We also have telemedicine services where partners and specialists from the cities can see patients virtually. We try to take care of everything that we can locally.”

Local cardiology means patients can have an assessment done here, make one trip to the cities for a procedure if one is necessary, and then have their follow-up care done right in the area, close to home, afterwards.

“Our Baxter staff is very committed to providing patientfocused care,” said Dirks. Patients from other areas, such as Park Rapids, Thief River Falls, Ely, and International Falls have also been seen at the clinic, which is home to about 25 employees, including advanced practice providers.