Exactly 30 years ago Robert Nordland, MD, started Western OB/GYN Women’s Health Center in Waconia. He told his then-partner, John Watson, that he would try it for two years and then re-evaluate. “I thought I could do anything for two years,” he laughs.

Now with six physicians, four midwives, a nurse practitioner, and two main offices in Waconia and Chaska, Dr. Nordland is thrilled at how the test has worked out. “I’ve never been happier than with the clinic we have now,” he says.

Patient Jenneane Brooks hasn’t been with him since the very beginning but she’s been seeing Dr. Nordland and other professionals at Western OB/GYN since she moved into the area more than 25 years ago. Dr. Nordland delivered her second daughter, Jennifer, in 1981. He and others at Western OB/GYN also saw her through the deliveries of four more children, the last being her son, born five years ago.

“I trust him,” she says simply. “Dr. Nordland is great with questions and explains things thoroughly.” Now with six kids, Jenneane says she has completed her family. But 24-year-old daughter Jennifer, on the other hand, is just starting hers. She’s expecting identical twin girls on July 22. Dr. Nordland is her primary physician and is planning to deliver the babies.

“It’s exciting and a little scary,” Jennifer says about twins. She chose Dr. Nordland because she’s always gone to Western OB/GYN for annual exams and is comfortable there.

She says it’s also important to her that he has so much experience.

“I have a lot more questions because of the twin factor,” she says.  “Dr. Nordland usually has all the answers immediately and he actually pays attention, is upfront with me and keeps in closer contact as my due date approaches. I feel like I have a good idea of what to expect.”

Jenneane says her jaw dropped when she heard her daughter was carrying twins. “I have six kids, but never two at once,” she laughs.  “It’s pretty neat that Dr. Nordland delivered Jennifer all those years ago and now is taking care of her as she gets ready to deliver her own children.”

Dr. Nordland says that it’s hard to believe sometimes that he has multi-generational patients, but he has enjoyed getting to know entire families as they grow up in the area. “I am the old guy in our practice now,” he says. “But I’m still completely committed to our specialty practice, to our patients and to our association with Ridgeview,” he says.

Although he may call himself the “old guy,” co-workers say he has more enthusiasm than anyone they know, and as a clinical professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School’s OB/GYN department he is often surrounded by young medical students. He loves teaching and finds it’s a good way to keep up-to-date on the latest technology and procedures. He also recruits students who spend part of their residencies at Western OB/GYN. “The residents bring such energy and enthusiasm to the group, and we all learn from each other,” he says. “It’s a great mix.”

Hoping to keep the smaller specialty practices alive and well into the future, Dr. Nordland co-founded the OB/GYN consortium group, which is made up of several practices in the region.  Jennifer Brooks is certainly glad he is still around. She feels confident with Dr. Nordland because he was her mom’s doctor. “If my mom is happy with someone, I know I’ll be happy too,” she says.  “My mom is very picky,” Jennifer adds with a laugh.

Lisa Baumann
HEALTHVIEWS STAFF WRITER