BAXTER — After more than a year of planning, development and construction, the Essentia Health-St. Joseph’s Orthopedic Center is nearly ready to open to the public.
A Wednesday, Oct. 28, open house will give people a chance to see the multi-million dollar facility, which transformed the former Camping World site off Edgewood Drive in Baxter into a health care hub. The first day for the clinic for patients is Nov. 2.
Beyond the orthopedic center, the clinic is home to Urgent Care, which is leaving its site at the Baxter Clinic to be part of the new facility. For patients, the flow will bring them into one of two main entrances into a main lobby and check-in area or directly into the pharmacy, which is Baxter’s first drive-thru pharmacy.
“We have a couple options for patients to check in: one with the self-check-in on the kiosk, the other with the in-person registration desks,” said Emily Korsch, project manager at the orthopedic center, during a tour Friday, Oct. 23.
From there, patients can access different suites from Urgent Care, to orthopedics, podiatry, rehabilitation, or the pharmacy.
Those entering the lobby will find a large mural to the right that was designed to highlight the natural resources of the lakes area communities and the recreational activities of the people who live and visit here. Korsch said those activities, from fishing to football to cross-country skiing, are some of the things patients want to get back to doing. It was also designed to give a sense of place. The facility was also created to bring in abundant natural light and create a sense of spaciousness in the former big box retail site both for visitors and the staff inside.
Bringing in the light deeper into the building meant working to create high windows above care team workstations.
Inside the workstations are multiple ways for staff to meet and work from shared space to enclosed offices. There are 26 orthopedic exam rooms.
For work, Korsch said she believed the orthopedic clinic was also the first in Essentia to include a specific technology for nurse call to help staff communicate with each other. In the past, that was done with colored flags, staff would flip out to indicate needed services such as X-ray. Now those are computerized and shared on screens and it allows wider communication within the entire building beyond the sight line at the hallway by the room. If assistance is needed, a call can be sent to the entire building.
Doctors Christopher Metz and Amy Lelwica, orthopedic surgeons, stand in the rehabilitation area for physical therapy on Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, at the new Essentia Health-St. Joseph’s Orthopedic Center.
Renee Richardson / Brainerd Dispatch
Orthopedics
For Dr. Amy Lelwica and Dr. Christopher Mets, orthopedic surgeons, the new clinic facility brings greater communication across disciplines and puts things a patient may need in one shared space, from surgical procedures to physical therapy to injections to prescriptions. It also provides much needed space for the six surgeons and staff.
It’s a big change from the childhood memories Lelwica has of weekends with her father,
, at his practice, Northern Orthopedics in south Brainerd. Northern Orthopedics was serving patients for 43 years before it became part of Essentia Health-St. Joseph’s Orthopedics Clinic
. Metz joined Schmitz at Northern Orthopedics.
It’s a little bittersweet to leave the old clinic Lelwica’s dad built, but Lelwica said in some ways it’s also fitting that generationally it’s being part of something new for the community from the bedrock he started.
“I’m really proud and fortunate and happy that we have a good team of people — a whole team of people — that really worked hard to make this happen. … And just very grateful to have had the opportunity of people being excited about it and wanting to provide something like this for the community.”
Lelwica said a lot has evolved over the years with maybe half of their patients now going home the same day as a procedure as well as the work going into treatment before and after surgery.
“I would say our job is to keep people moving, and that starts from day one after surgery,” Lelwica said, adding the work is to help people function to the best of their ability and they are aided by decades of data to help direct the healthcare.
A patient exam bed, which looks more like a high-tech chair, can be raised mechanically, making it much easier for those who are already dealing with mobility issues.
Renee Richardson / Brainerd Dispatch
Lelwica said it’s about quality of life and keeping people moving for their life goals, which may be being able to play catch with their child or walking without being hobbled by pain.
“I think the whole concept is when you come here, you can see us,” Metz said. “You can go see the physical therapist. You can bring up your prescription. If you need an injection, we can talk to those people because they’re right in this building. It’s not sending to the hospital.”
For outpatient needs, Metz said the clinic is where people can get what they need from two state-of-the-art orthopedic procedure rooms to Urgent Care.
If an orthopedic surgeon is needed for Urgent Care, they will be right in the same building.
“The coordination of care is going to be fantastic,” Metz said. “It’s going to make things more efficient.”
For Metz, another major change is for physical therapy as it moved from the basement to an airy new space with a host of equipment and a wall of windows. The outdoor patio allows patients to be outside as well and provides a real-life area for people to walk on uneven ground.
Metz said people also feel differently when they are coming to a place that is state-of-the-art and filled with the newest technology for top-of-the-line care.
Looking at the direction of orthopedic care, Metz said there have been all kinds of changes and looking at the direction of orthopedics and wanting to grow the facility here is why they became part of Essentia Health. They knew then they would need a new center and when the Camping World space, formerly Gander Mountain, became available, it provided what they were looking for and the final product exceeded expectations.
“We think it turned out perfect,” Metz said.
Wall murals and subtle color changes help as way-finding navigators inside the orthopedic Center in Baxter.
Renee Richardson / Brainerd Dispatch
For specialty care, they’ve added a joint reconstruction specialist and podiatry, as Metz said specialty care is important, such as doctors specializing in pain management. They are looking to add a spine surgeon in the near future. And with an aging population, the good news from the surgeons is people can be treated for greater mobility at all ages. Metz said he’s always surprised by the 80-year-old who is more mobile than someone 30 years younger.
“In terms of different types of procedures, there are people that are using robot and advanced kind of guidance systems,” Metz said. “In terms of physical therapy, the relationship that we have with our physical therapist and getting people back to what it is that they want to do, achieving their goal of lifestyle and pain relief … I think the relationship that we had for a long, long time serves patients well.”
Subtle accent colors differentiate areas of care in the clinic and high-definition wall murals of woodland and lakes area animals also help with wayfinding for patients and visitors.
Metz said the design did a really nice job of making sure people see where they are and where they need to be in navigating the space.
Decisions in design for exam rooms made decisions on everything from a patient exam bed that looks more like a high-tech chair that a patient sits on and then it is raised mechanically to the right height, making it much easier for those who are already dealing with mobility issues. Then the exam bed can be adjusted for height and horizontally as needed.
Work continues Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, at the pharmacy in the Essentia Health-St. Joseph’s Orthopedic Center in Baxter prior to opening day.
Renee Richardson / Brainerd Dispatch
Design decisions came down to a host of topics, right down to the right wall bracket for the monitor so the health professional can move it easily from the wall by the desk to share information with patients.
Work on the exterior and navigating the drive up to the site was done with an effort to remake the areas so it didn’t look like a big box retail center anymore and emphasized landscape and health care and in consideration of the pedestrians moving to the center from vehicles.
More than 105,000 pounds of sheet metal ductwork were installed, which is the equivalent to 26 vehicles, a commercial jet, 13 elephants, or 52.5 tons.Nearly 26,000 feet of plumbing pipe installed, equal to 4.9 miles.Five semitrucks full of furniture.14,290 metal studs 14 feet high for the equivalent of 37.9 miles of metal studs laid end-to-end (roughly the distance from the orthopedic clinic to Essentia Health’s clinic in Pierz.Almost 5,800 sheets of drywall equal to 6.3 acres or 4.8 standard football fields. Almost 2,000 gallons of paint, 64 roller covers and 285 rolls of masking tape.Hy-Tec made 78 trips to Home Depot for odds and ends.There are more than 2,300 pieces of new medical equipment ordered. 73 pieces of medical equipment from existing facilities are being relocated to the orthpedic clinic.More than 170,000 feet of data cables, which is nearly six times the height of Mount Everest.26 different electricians and low-voltage technicians from Holden Electric worked on the project at some point.
The Essentia Health-St. Joseph’s Orthopedic Center is opening for patients on Nov. 2, 2026, along Edgewood Drive in Baxter, just off Highway 371.
Renee Richardson / Brainerd Dispatch
People are invited to tour the clinic, enjoy refreshments and meet the care team and learn about services at the 60,000-square-foot Essentia Health St. Joseph’s — Orthopedic Center in Baxter.
The open house is 5-7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28, 14275 Edgewood Drive, Baxter.
1/10: The Essentia Health-St. Joseph’s Orthopedic Center in Baxter moves closer to opening day as final touches and equipment is added.
Renee Richardson / Brainerd Dispatch
2/10: The Essentia Health-St. Joseph’s Orthopedic Center in Baxter moves closer to opening day as final touches and equipment is added.
Renee Richardson / Brainerd Dispatch
3/10: The Essentia Health-St. Joseph’s Orthopedic Center in Baxter moves closer to opening day as final touches and equipment is added.
Renee Richardson / Brainerd Dispatch
4/10: The Essentia Health-St. Joseph’s Orthopedic Center in Baxter moves closer to opening day as final touches and equipment is added.
Renee Richardson / Brainerd Dispatch
5/10: The Essentia Health-St. Joseph’s Orthopedic Center in Baxter moves closer to opening day as final touches and equipment is added.
Renee Richardson / Brainerd Dispatch
6/10: The Essentia Health-St. Joseph’s Orthopedic Center in Baxter moves closer to opening day as final touches and equipment is added.
Renee Richardson / Brainerd Dispatch
7/10: The Essentia Health-St. Joseph’s Orthopedic Center in Baxter moves closer to opening day as final touches and equipment is added.
Renee Richardson / Brainerd Dispatch
8/10: The Essentia Health-St. Joseph’s Orthopedic Center in Baxter moves closer to opening day as final touches and equipment is added.
Renee Richardson / Brainerd Dispatch
9/10: The Essentia Health-St. Joseph’s Orthopedic Center in Baxter moves closer to opening day as final touches and equipment is added.
Renee Richardson / Brainerd Dispatch
10/10: The Essentia Health-St. Joseph’s Orthopedic Center in Baxter moves closer to opening day as final touches and equipment is added.
Renee Richardson / Brainerd Dispatch