Gundersen Health System

Specialties

Headquartered in La Crosse, Wis, Gundersen Health System provides quality health services to patients at its hospital and clinics throughout western Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota and northeastern Iowa. Gundersen is a large specialty teaching hospital, providing a broad range of emergency, specialty and primary care. Gundersen is comprised of nearly 700 medical, dental and associate staff, and supported by a staff of more than 6,000. Gundersen’s outstanding clinical outcomes have earned a portfolio of awards and recognitions, including being named in the upper 5% of hospitals in the country.

History

Established in 1891.

The origins of Gundersen Health System really can be traced back the 19^th Century when frontier attitudes about culture, manners and medicine prevailed. At that time, there were some «medical doctors,» but most received their degrees from diploma mills. The exception was Adolf Gundersen, whose European training quickly placed him as the city’s première physician. Before the Lutheran Hospital opened in 1902, many of the early operations were performed in patients’ homes. When local clergy first planned construction of a new hospital, Gundersen recognized the opportunity and served as the hospital’s first medical director. In 1995, Gundersen Clinic and Lutheran Hospital-​La Crosse merged to form Gundersen Lutheran, Inc., and the organization became Gundersen Health System in 2013. Members of the Gundersen family still practice medicine at Gundersen, and the organization is consistently ranked among the top five percent of healthcare organizations in the country.