Profile · La Crosse, Wisconsin
Adolf Gundersen
Norwegian surgeon; founded Gundersen Clinic in La Crosse (1891–1938 career)
$250,000+ (1938$)
Adolf Gundersen was the Norwegian surgeon who came to La Crosse in 1891 for a one-year job and stayed the rest of his working life. He became Lutheran Hospital’s first medical director in 1902 and opened Gundersen Clinic next to the hospital in 1930—the seed of a health system that now runs hospitals across four states. Born in Solor, Norway, on October 8, 1865, he held an Oslo medical degree (1890) and answered a newspaper ad that La Crosse needed doctors, joining friend Christian Christensen. The year went well. He returned to Asnes anyway, married Helga Sara Isaksaetre on September 16, 1893, and brought her to the river city for good. They raised eight children; four of the sons walked into the clinic. King Haakon made him a Knight of St. Olaf, first rank, in 1926. He was a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a University of Wisconsin regent. In 1923 he wrote that the finest patient care “requires continuous effort and study.” In 1930 he left the downtown office for a new clinic—period accounts called it a $100,000 building—next to the hospital so he could be closer to the beds. He died on a visit home to Norway on September 15, 1938, at the family place, Rosen, with Helga and a son who had stayed to keep the farm. That is a medical-fortune story without a Forbes line on the founder.