A founding member home of the Fairview Partners program.

A 220 bed facility, Good Samaritan Society - University Specialty Center offers services for long term and short term care residents. Good Samaritan Society - University Specialty Center is part of the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society.

The Fairview Partners care team:

GRETCHEN COLE, M.D.
Fairview Geriatric Services
3400 West 66th Street, Suite 290
Edina, Minn 55345
(952) 836-3839

“My role as a physician is to help patients and their families with the many difficult decisions regarding their chronic and acute illnesses, appropriate level of care and quality of life.”

Education and Training
Gretchen Cole has a medical degree from the University of Louisville School of Medicine. She completed her internship and residency training in internal medicine at the University of New Mexico Affiliated Hospitals.
Experience
Cole has been practicing with Fairview Geriatric Services for many years, providing care to Fairview Partners patients in both the long term and short term care setting at several nursing homes in the metro area. She is also the practicing physician for the Memory Loss Assessment Clinic. Prior to joining the Fairview team, Cole was a primary care physician with St. Joseph’s Health Care System and the Medical Network of New Mexico. She was also the Medical Director for the Senior Health Center as well as the Transitional Care Center at St. Mark’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Licensure and Certifications
Cole is board certified in internal medicine. Professional Associations Cole is a member of the American College of Physicians.
Interests
In her free time, Cole enjoys playing the piano, hiking, running and spending time with her two children.

CYNCHA WILTGEN, R.N., G.N.P.
Fairview Geriatric Services
3400 West 66th Street, Suite 400
Edina, Minn 55435
(952) 836-3839

“In caring for the elderly, my only goal is to be respectful of the person as an individual. To acknowledge that this person has come to me at a time in their life when illness or age has robbed them of many of the things they hold dear. My initial focus on diagnosis and treatment of illness has, over time, been tempered by the realization that good care may not always be curative. At its best, care should reflect the individual’s wishes, whatever they may be.”

Education and Training
Cyncha Wiltgen received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from St. Olaf College in 1980. She then received her Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1986.
Experience
Wiltgen has been a gerontological nurse practitioner (GNP) since 1986, working primarily with residents in assisted living and nursing homes. She has been working with Fairview Partners for several years.
Licensure and Certifications
Wiltgen is certified as a gerontological nurse practitioner by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).
Professional Interests
Wiltgen has a special interest in hospice care, specifically, the impact of chronic or terminal illness on the individual as well as on the family.

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