Minnesota bank helps health clinic expand service

Northwestern Financial Review, Sep 15, 2001 by Crews, Jennifer Goepfert

The citizens of Remer, Minn., a town with a population of less than 400 people, can rest easy knowing they will finally have a full-time health clinic thanks to the efforts of local banker, Brian Nicklason and the people of Woodland Bank. The clinic, part of the Duluth Clinic System, has been operating in Remer for several years but, due to a lack in volume and hospital referrals, the clinic has been open only three days a week. Early this year, the Duluth clinic looked at its budget and decided to mark the Remer clinic for permanent closure.

"Clinics by nature don't make a lot of money or they lose money," explained Nicklason, the $55 million bank's chairman and president. "It is the referral business to the main hospital that they get from the clinics where they make money. A lot of people here were being referred to the Twin Cities and places where they had loved ones. Without referrals, there was a very good chance that this clinic was going to close."

The clinic also was located in a small, privately owned facility that needed upgrading. Nicklason recognized the need for a full-time clinic, as the resort town has a high tourist population and the nearest clinic is 20 miles away in Longville. As a member of the board of the Deer River Hospital, Deer River, Minn., (also part of the Duluth Clinic System) and as president of the Remer Area Chamber of Commerce, he found himself in a unique position to help his community.

"We looked at a lot of options," said Nicklason. "The facility needed to be upgraded and the clinic needed to be able to support itself The bank has been blessed with some good years and things have been going well, so I approached my mother [Frances] my brother [Carl] and my sister [Mary Johnson], who are on the bank board, and said, 'What if we found a way to build a new clinic for them and subsidize it through the good fortune of the bank?'"

Together they came up with a solution. The bank's family-owned holding company, Remer Bank Corp., bought the building that housed the clinic and formed an agreement with the Duluth Clinic System. The clinic would occupy the space rent-free for three years with the understanding that they would operate full time. Conveniently, Woodland Bank owns the space adjacent to the building. Therefore, plans are underway to expand and improve the facility.

"The hospital has been very supportive. They didn't want this clinic to close either," said Nicklason. "The clinic board was very pleased that the community would come to the forefront to do something like this."

Rent from two other tenants in the building - a dentist and an attorney - will help offset the costs of letting the clinic operate in the space for free.

As a result of Woodland's efforts, a physical therapist has decided to relocate to Remer and several other businesses are interested in possibly expanding into the community as well.

By Jennifer Goepfert Crews