Merilee johnson

Administrator

Merilee brings a 23-year career in the skilled nursing world to the Health Center. She began in California, her home state. Merilee enjoys interacting with residents and staff, as well as the opportunity to directly affect the lives of those she works with.

She and her husband have a daughter. An avid volleyball player, Merilee has also coached high school volleyball. She sees similarities between leading staff and coaching her teams to victory but promises not to make us run sprints at the end of the work day!

Tina Hedalen

Director of Nursing

Tina became Walker Methodist’s Director of Nursing in April 2016. She had previously held the position from 2000-2004, and Walker Methodist is glad to have her back. As Director of Nursing, Tina’s main responsibility is overseeing the nursing department. Overseeing means providing leadership and mentorship to individuals within her department, staying compliant with nursing regulations, and remaining competitive within the healthcare industry.

Within the healthcare industry, Tina is known as someone with integrity and passion for the people she serves. She is especially skilled in team development and leadership, which is an important skill set for a Director of Nursing. Tina loves being part of an industry that’s constantly rising to meet new challenges while staying focused on human service.

She hopes her legacy is one of instilling the passion of senior care and service through nursing onto others. Along the way, she’s thankful to play a part in developing nurses and nursing assistants as they find their career path in senior care.

When she’s not working, Tina spends time with her family. She and her wonderful husband, Roger, take drives throughout the city and make day trips to the many small towns nearby. She has one adult daughter, Andrea, who’s currently deciding what her career path will be. In her personal and professional life, Tina loves to laugh. And she loves when others laugh too.

Brianne Prew

Assistant Director of Nursing

Brianne joined the Health Center team in 2010. She started as a Registered Nurse on the 4th floor and has worked her way up to her current position. She received her degrees in Registered Nursing and Global Studies from Century College, completed training in Advanced Infection Control from APIC (Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology), and completed the Walker Methodist Memory Care Training and dementia care training. Previous to working at Walker, she worked in another Assisted Living and Memory Care community.

On a daily basis, you will find Brianne overseeing all of the aspects of our long-term care units, which includes care of the residents, family communication, safety of residents and staff, staffing, and staff development. She is also in charge of the Falls Program and is the head of the Safety Committee at the Health Center. The aspect of her job that she is most passionate about is knowing she can make a difference in someone’s quality of life. She also has a special interest in palliative and hospice care and ensuring comfort at the end of life.

Outside of work, Brianne enjoys spending time with family, finding a bargain at garage sales, searching for shark teeth in Florida, and agate hunting in Duluth. Brianne is engaged and has a beautiful daughter and one more on the way! Brianne also enjoys volunteering at the Walk to End Alzheimer’s. A few nonprofits she is passionate about include the Walker Methodist Foundation, Garden Fresh Farms in Maplewood, and supporting sustainable agriculture.

At the end of the day, Brianne would like to be remembered as a caring and helpful person.

Carol'Ann K. Hansen

Director of Case Mix / Medicare / RAI

Carol’Ann joined the Walker Methodist family in April 2000. She holds an Associate of Science Nursing Degree – RN from St. Mary’s College and has Focus education in Medicare, Case Mix, and MDS processes.

On a day-to-day basis, Carol’Ann works to ensure resident care is assessed at appropriate levels for reimbursement. She also oversees the RAI team, sets up plans of care for Medicare/Insurance residents, and reviews and submits MDSs to CMS. She is very well known for being someone who can take a lot of data and information and put it into a simple format that is easy to understand. While at work, she is most passionate about seeing residents get the coverage they need.

Outside of her nursing career, Carol’Ann enjoys finding fossils, agates, and artifacts. She is also quite passionate about animals. In her spare time, you will likely find Carol’Ann out in a creek, river, ocean, woods, or walking old railway tracks looking for fossils, agates, artifacts, or odds and ends for homemade gifts. The rest is spent with her animals.

At the end of the day, Carol’Ann would like to be remembered as the adventurous one. She’d also like to be known as someone who was compassionate about the care individuals received while in a senior care center and a true, loyal friend.

Tricia Oian

Director of Social Services

Tricia holds a BA in Sociology, a BS in Psychology, and a minor in Religion and Music from Augsburg College. Tricia came to the Health Center in 2018 after a career at the Department of Human Services and residential homes.

Tricia has developed and trained professionals on CPR, cultural sensitivity and diversity, conflict resolution, person-centered care, and more.

She is known for empowering and developing residents and staff. The best part of her job is having the ability to ask the question "How can we make this better?" When she finds something that really works, she asks, "How can I help this individual so everyone will provide this fantastic level of care? What can I do right now and continue to do consistently to encourage independence and growth in others and myself?" Tricia's philosophy is that we can all learn and be open to adapting to best solve the problem.

When not at the Health Center, you can find Tricia with her family, hiking, going to a movie, reading, or even working with cattle!