Dr.

Monday, November 19, 2001

Dr. Mark Ciota believes that if he wants to see changes, he needs to participate.

That’s why the orthopedic surgeon at Albert Lea Medical Center has taken on the position of medical director there. He assumed his new responsibilities on Nov. 1, following the tenure of Dr. Jeffrey Lotts, general surgeon.

&uot;Dr. Lotts has set the bar very high,&uot; Ciota said.

As medical director, Ciota is responsible for clinical development of patient care issues, clinical quality, physician and personnel issues, recruitment and retention of physicians, peer review issues and enforcement of medical staff rules and bylaws.

&uot;The medical director is part of the senior leadership here at Albert Lea Medical Center,&uot; he said.

He said his goals during his tenure, which is open-ended with the expectation of five years, is to build on what Lotts has done. &uot;I want to continuously improve the medical center,&uot; he said. &uot;We want to provide the highest-level care, as efficiently as possible.

&uot;The goal is perfection.&uot;

He said there is a hard-working group of doctors at the medical center. &uot;I’m looking forward to working with them more closely,&uot; he added.

The doctor said he has already seen many changes take place at the medical center since his arrival in 1995. &uot;Besides the integration of hospital and clinic, we do and measure things that in ’95 hadn’t even been thought about,&uot; he said.

Ciota said the Mayo Health System, of which Albert Lea Center is a part, is a physician-led organization. Therefore, Ciota will continue to see patients and provide orthopedic surgery services in addition to his medical director responsibilities. It’s helpful, he said, that he has a new partner in orthopedics, Dr. Michael Eckstrom.

Ciota grew up near Chicago and attended medical school at Indiana University. He did his orthopedic residency at Wright State University, and had additional trauma training at Hennepin County Medical Center.

&uot;I love the community,&uot; he said of Albert Lea, adding that his hometown is a bit smaller than this one, and his wife, Allison, grew up in Winona. They have two daughters, Alexandra, 10, and Morgan, 8.