Medical Center opens in New Richmond

In 2017 the St. Croix Crossing bridge opened connecting Stillwater, Minnesota, with New Richmond. With that connection came an avalanche of new opportunities.  

The New Richmond Medical Center broke ground in May 2022 and is the latest in a series of new professions and commercial developments in the city to expand access for residents and surrounding communities, in this case, to health care related services.

On Thursday, Feb. 2, community members got their first look inside the new medical center on North Knowles Ave. at an open house. 

The new medical center will have an air of familiarity about it as Drs. Steve Harrold, Joseph Dietzler and Michael Schneider who moved over from Westfields to join Hudson Physicians will make their return to the city. 

Harrold is returning as medical director of the new facility.  

“This is exciting. It’s exciting for the community. There’s a need in the community for even more access to health care. It’ll be good to have another urgent care open in town where we can be available to patients urgently, and they can make appointments on short notice,” Harrold said.

The medical center officially opened its doors on Monday, Feb. 6, and appointments are filling up but the ability to take walk-ins assures patients will  have an opportunity to receive care. 

“We’ve been booking some appointments already. Our schedules are about half full right now, but that will ramp up quickly as we’ll also be taking walkins,” Harrold said.

With a staff of 10 primary and specialty care physicians and 30 support staff, the medical center will have the capacity to see up to 200 patients a day. 

The $10 million, 20,000-square-foot facility includes an outpatient clinic, a full-service diagnostic lab, X-ray, ultrasound and mammography services, plus an urgent care program with extended weekend and evening hours. 

Hudson Imaging and Twin Cities Orthopedics will have space within the New Richmond location. 

The new medical center represents a partnership between Hudson Physicians and Associated Eye Care and follows hot on the heels of the same partnership’s opening of a new 160,000- square-foot, $56.2 million facility in Hudson in January. 

Director of Clinical Operations for Associated Eye Care Nicci Lunde acknowledged a sense of excitement and anticipation on behalf of community members. 

“People are really excited. We’ve had a really good turnout from the community. I think they are very excited to have eye care right here in this beautiful building and for Hudson Physicians to be back as well,” Lunde said. “I think we’re going to wish we had built bigger.”

Lunde noted the eye clinic is already booked through April and has had to ask some providers to cancel their days off to meet the demand. 

“There is high demand in New Richmond for our eye care. People like to have a good service where they live and not have to drive across the river. I think this is going to be a great benefit to this community,” Lunde said.