Winona Health — Local services in Winona

I was visiting Minnesota on a little vacation that took a very unexpected turn within just 48 hours—I ended up in the emergency room, admitted to the hospital, and ultimately had to undergo emergency surgery at Winona Health. Despite how scary and stressful the situation was, I honestly cannot say enough good things about this hospital and its staff.

From the moment I walked into the building to the moment I was discharged, I was treated with kindness, patience, and respect. Every single person I interacted with—from the ER team to ICU nurses, floor staff, phlebotomists, and beyond—was incredibly friendly and compassionate. They didn’t just treat my medical condition, they treated me as a whole person.

I have a fear of needles and was terrified about having surgery in a completely unfamiliar place. But the staff truly listened. They were calm, reassuring, and consistently positive, which made a huge difference in helping me feel safe.

Dr. Serleth, who performed my surgery, was phenomenal. He took the time to explain everything thoroughly—not just to me, but on four separate phone calls to my family and friends so they would understand what was happening too. His care, patience, and clear communication meant the world to me.

Holly, his PA, was just as amazing. She checked on me during my hospital stay and followed up by phone afterward, even though I had already returned home to Florida. She was so kind, and I never once felt rushed during our conversations. She genuinely wanted to know how I was doing and went out of her way to help me find post-op care near home.

I honestly can’t understand some of the negative reviews I’ve seen. My experience was the complete opposite. If I ever have to get sick in Minnesota again, I sincerely hope it’s near Winona Health—because I know I’ll be in the best hands possible. Thank you to everyone at Winona Health who helped turn a frightening situation into a...

We went in to take my 1 year old for high fever of 103.6 after checking her oxygen levels and checking her in, they made us go back to the waiting room for 40 mints. then finally put us in a room, Dr took another 45 mints to come in to check on my crying baby. She has COVID so her symptoms were pretty severe. After Dr came in, they never checked her temperature to make sure it wasn’t going up. After Dr checked in with us, she ordered some Tylenol it took another 45 minutes to come in with it. My baby was crying so much, she was in so much pain and so we asked the nurses when was the medication coming? And 10 mints after that, they brought it in and gave us attitude. The nurse acted very unprofessional, and cold towards our baby. Told us to wait and they would recheck her temp and have the Dr comeback to talk to us. They had us waited for an hour and half, the temperature wasn’t going down. So after an hour and half of waiting a male nurse came in and checked her temp, left and then the same rude female nurse came back and brought us the discharge papers, she explained what to do and was quick to leave and not even ask if we had any questions as most do. So I said, why do drs tell you to come in right away if their temps is above 103 or higher? Every time we have gone to Winona’s ER it’s a joke. They take forever, they’re rude, and staff is very unprofessional. It took hours for them to give us no help at all and receive bad treatment. They sure do like to collect money right away by bringing you the tablet to put all of your insurance info. They’re...

Winona Health overall is great, my nurse was absolutely amazing!

However my Doctor was terrible. Dr. Callahan was the most disrespectful and uncaring doctor I have ever come in contact with. I went in for choking, were multiple people including EMT had to do the Heimlich maneuver on me before arriving to the hospital. When I got there Dr.Callahan told me “had I been choking I should have been blue and dead.” Correct yes I just came to the hospital cause I had a little scratch in my throat. No I arrived because the object was still logged in my throat. He did nothing to help besides sit next to my bed and tell me to drink water, which I couldn’t swallow and continued to throw up in front of him due to the object still being logged in my throat. He then didn’t come back for 45 mins which when he did asked “Is the feeling in ur throat gone yet” in an annoyed tone of voice. He acts as if he’s too busy to deal with you as a patient, and whenever I tried to explain how I was feeling he would grunt or huff and puff about the problem not being resolved. He constantly dismissed the way I was feeling and told me that the object wasn’t in my throat. Personally he isn’t the type of person who should be caring for people. No patient should feel disrespected or belittled while...