St. Cloud Surgical Center Celebrates 50 Years, Honors 101-Year-Old Founder

(KNSI) — The St. Cloud Surgical Center turned 50 years old on Wednesday, and the guest of honor at the celebration was the 101-year-old founder, Dr. Joseph Belshe.

Dr. Belshe tells KNSI he founded the St. Cloud Surgical Center in 1972 after he was approached by other medical professionals in the community who said they were frustrated that patients had to go to the hospital for a procedure they could do in their offices. He said they told him, “We know you have some experience, and you’re kind of a maverick, so think about this.”

He said he knew with modern anesthesia; it could be done, so the St. Cloud Surgical Center became the first outpatient surgical center in Minnesota and just the second in the country.

It was first located in the federal building on St. Germain Street with one operating room. The center then grew and was located in an old printing press building. It was converted into office space up front and three operating rooms in the back. The first surgeries performed at the center were relatively short procedures and dental procedures, but as medicine advanced, the surgeries they performed at the center were more involved.

The St. Cloud Surgical Center is considered an ambulatory surgery center that provides same-day surgical care at a lower cost than what a patient would pay if they had surgery in a hospital.

The Belshes say the St. Cloud Surgical Center, which is now on Northway Drive, is “impressive,” and they say they are grateful that it has stayed in St. Cloud. Dr. Belshe says, “it worked out quite well that other people caught on with the fever of this particular idea were well able to manage and proceed as usual.”

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KNSI News reporter Grant Dossetto contributed to this story.

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