New Pinedale Clinic
Construction has begun on the new Pinedale Medical Clinic, next to the old clinic. This picture was taken Monday, February 26th.
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Sublette County Rural Health Care District meeting
New Clinic Administrator and doctor on staff, helicopter proposal presented
by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online, Reporter’s Notes
March 1, 2007
The Sublette County Rural Health Care District Board held a regular meeting on Wednesday, February 28th at the Marbleton Town Hall. All the available seats were taken by interested public as well as many people standing in the room and out in the hall to attend the meeting. All board members were present except for Dave Racich. Kip Boone, the new Clinic Administrator, was present and introduced to the Board and public.
Reporter’s Notes:
- Kris Roork reported that the physician and physician search continues. They hope to conduct interviews in the next 1-2 months.
- Cindy Van reported that they are working on reviewing revisions for nursing policies and procedures and hope to have them in final format ready for the March 14 board meeting.
- No one was present to give a construction update on the clinics or ambulance barns.
- Chief Financial Officer Lorraine Gatzke gave a financial report. The board approved to cash out a CD and move it into a checking account. The also moved to change a non-interest bearing account over to an interest account in Pinedale. She is working on the finances and hopes to have a budget comparison for the board by the middle of March.
- Bill Krieger spoke for the Sublette County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Council. He introduced Dr. Doug Schmitz, who has been the EMS Medical Director for over a year. He travels from the eastern side of the state, and acts as Medical Director for both departments of the EMS. He is the Chair of the Wyoming Trauma Coordination Team, as well as a surgeon out of Torrington. The EMS staff reemphasized their need for housing for EMS current staff and new employees. The Big Piney staff has outgrown their present quarters and hope more space is being planned in for new medical facilities being planned for the new Big Piney medical services buildings.
- Will Gay, Supervisor for the Pinedale EMS, informed the board of a pilot program they are doing for youth BEC emergency responder certification in Pinedale. The program is the 1st in the state of its kind. It is for 15-18 year old high school students who have completed the required first responder training. They can ride in the ambulance and get a look at EMS work. The purpose of the program is to give youths an entry level look at the field, hoping they will continue the training and pursue an EMS career. This is being done as an effort to “recruit our own” and try to get local high school youths interested in careers in emergency medical services. No pay is involved. The kids do it as a community service, volunteer basis. There are no overnight stays and kids are supervised on who they go out with on runs. Kris Bacheller is the contact person for more information on this program.
- Dr. Schmitz had high praise for the Sublette EMS and ambulance staff and their response to emergencies. “They do a tremendous job. If you need ambulance service in this county, I guarantee you will get top notch care. I can’t tell you how fortunate you are to have this kind of ambulance service.” When questioned by a member of the audience about the reason for the high number of ambulance runs, the response was the gas field and booming economy that has brought so many more people here.
- The board signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for services with SAFV, the Sexual Assault and Family Violence Task Force to continue to work together and collaborate. No funding was requested by SAFV of the board.
- Van Huffman spoke on behalf of the newly formed Sublette Health Care Coalition bringing citizen concerns before the board. Their top two priorities are: #1 - to get contracts signed and keep the professional medical people we have now and make sure the stay; and #2 - to get a financial statement put together and out where the public can see it. They requested it be put in the newspapers. An in-term audit was also requested to be expedited.
- Kyle Erickson, representing Appleby Aviation out of Oregon, gave a proposal for EMS air ambulance helicopter services for Sublette County. The helicopter would be based onsite and would shorten travel time for response time to emergencies and transport to hospital facilities, helping to reduce the tight EMS service for ambulance crews in the county. The helicopter, 2 pilots, and maintenance staff would be on call 24/7, and would also be available for sheriff and search & rescue calls. Cost would be $238,000/month and $1500/hour. The board said they would review the proposal and talk with EMS staff to evaluate costs and benefits.
- Mary Lynn Worl discussed Healthy Sublette Program, a wellness program that would be run as a contract for services by Rendezvous Pointe Senior Center. The $9,500 cost for the county-wide program was already approved in the budget for this program. Worl is just asking that the board release money already budgeted for this program so it can get going. The board approved this request.
Public Comment:
- Asked Kip Boone if he had a formal job description yet? Boone replied it was being worked on and it would happen.
- Asked if Dr. Turner was offered a contract? Response was that all current medical people would be offered a contract.
- Comment that the helicopter service proposal presented earlier was a huge price and current fixed wing and helicopter services are available that meet the medical emergency needs. Money would be better spent on other things.
- Asked again about financial statements and contracts and when they would be available. Response was the financial statements should be ready mid-March, being worked on now. Kip Boone is drafting verbiage for new contracts and they will then need to go through legal review. Expect contracts to be ready within 2-4 weeks.
- Asked if people who never had contracts with the RHCB before would also be offered contracts and if they would have to go through background and resume checks? Response was yes.
Executive Session: Personnel Issues:
In executive session, the board discussed EMS status change and PMC nurse status changes. The public and press were not present for this portion of the meeting.
Once the regular meeting was reconvened, the board voted to sign a contract with Randy Johnson and approved the contract with Dr. James Quirk, who will be the Medical Director at the Pinedale Medical Center as part of his duties. He plans to start seeing patients the first week of April. There was no discussion or decisions made about contracts for Dr. Boyle or Dr. LeSeur.
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