MCH holds town hall meetings
SUPERIOR - Administrators from the Mineral Community Hospital and the Mineral Regional Health Center stopped by Superior Fountain and Drug April 30 to talk healthcare with the community.
Larry Putnam, interim CEO of the hospital, and Kim Mansch, interim CEO of the health center, delivered status updates on both establishments, and answered questions from those in attendance.
Overall, the hospital which calls Superior home has been financially strapped. Patients in Mineral County haven’t been accessing the hospital for its potential, utilizing services as far as Missoula, Putnam said.
“Every place I have gone in Mineral County the last six months my message has been the same,” Putnam said. “If the numbers don’t pick up and people don’t use the facilities at the clinic and the hospital, there is a real danger the hospital won’t be here.”
Putnam became interim CEO six months ago and has been working on a month-to-month contract which is approved by the hospital board.
“That’s why I’m in Superior,” Putnam said. “I have a great passion for small rural hospitals. We have all the right things in place here but don’t have enough business.”
Putnam maintains a permanent residence in Helena, Mont. on the weekends, commuting back and forth to Superior.
The health center, which is now a separate entity from the hospital, has seen slight improvements compared to the hospital.
“In terms of our financial situation, the staff has worked really hard adjusting to the cuts that we have made,” Mansch said. “The past couple of months we have been really close to a breakeven point, so we’re at the point to stabilize financially.”
Additionally, the hospital and health center have been working diligently to improve customer service.
“We’ve been working hard on both sides of the house to really improve our customer service,” Putnam said. “We’ve heard a lot of complaints on both sides. The way people approach others sometimes is not the right way, and we know that.”
Putnam cites the complaints were because people weren’t getting called back about their hospital experience and there were no follow-ups on lab results.
“The other issue I think plays into customer service is the tremendous turnover that this community has seen with their medical providers,” Putnam said. “The noise level about people being upset about turnover in physicians and administration is not quite as bad as it was six months ago.”
The numbers at the health center directly impacts the business seen at the hospital, mostly with lab requests and X-rays. However, those numbers also dropped.
“That’s where our bread and butter is pretty much,” Putnam said. “The routine revenue of people coming from the health center to get lab work or X-ray or CT scans done.”
The hospital and health clinic administration believes that some of the problem for the decline is that people are choosing to use other medical facilities for their care.
“There are many good reasons why people go in to Missoula for services,” Putnam said. “Like if you need to see a neurologist or a neurosurgeon. There are certain kinds of specially things you need to go into Missoula for and we understand that.”
However, patients who visit the hospital locally can get their lab work and imaging done without the travel. The health center and hospital also offer payment arrangements.
“We’re really pushing the sliding fee scale at the clinic because if you come to the doctor, you may not have to pay hardly anything,” said Bill Bonetati, Mineral Regional Health Center CFO.
The hospital offers a reduced price for services rendered as well.
Overall, the health center is improving during its transition.
“Things are going really well at the health center,” Mansch said. “We continue to provide excellent primary care services and have also just recruited Dr. Erica Parker, M.D.”
Parker’s husband is also looking to setup a new dental practice in the area.
“My plea with everyone I talk to is to please use our facilities,” Putnam said.