CFVH open house introduces new surgeon, equipment
DR. ROBERT Blease, Clark Fork Valley Hospital orthopedic surgeon, shows off the new hip-replacement table that works in coordination with X-ray video during an open house March 21. “This set-up cost as much as a small airplane. It takes a lot of the guesswork out of it,” he quips. (Carolyn Hidy photos/Clark Fork Valley Press)
CLARK FORK Valley Hospital Surgery Technician Warren Hill helps Hallie Corbin with a surgeon’s hood during the March 21 open house at the Plains facility.
SURGERY TECH Hallie Corbin of Plains helps cauterize a chicken breast as Warren Hill explains how it can be used to stem bleeding from small blood vessels during surgery. Dr. Hanson, Aiden Lyman and Jim Hanson are highly entertained.
Clark Fork Valley Hospital takes its role as the community’s hospital seriously, and part of that is making it fun.
Each quarter, they partner with the Sanders County Arts Council to provide fresh, beautiful artwork by local artists to decorate the entrance hall and hold an open house.
This quarter, the art event tied in with a Surgery Open House, offering a chance to meet the surgeons and try out their intriguing equipment. Three doctors, and several nurses, technicians, and assistant staff warmly greeted visitors, showed them how machines worked, and helped them try out some of the high-tech operating equipment. More than one youth may have been bitten by the desire to attend medical school from this experience.
Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Robert Blease recently joined the hospital, making it possible to offer joint replacements and other bone surgery locally. Blease showed off a new state-of-the-art hip replacement table that works in coordination with x-ray video to see the bones as the surgeon works. The smell of burning meat was a dubious treat offered by Surgery Technician Warren Hill showing how electrodes can cauterize tiny blood vessels to reduce bleeding during surgery.
Dr. Gregory Hanson, Obstetrics and hospital CEO, kept things upbeat while explaining the sometimes creepy-seeming realities, such as the fact that hammers, drills, saws, and screws are used to repair bones. Dr. Don Damschen was on hand in the General Surgery room, where kids worked to remove marshmallows and licorice strips from a “patient” while watching their actions magnified on a separate screen, rather than observing directly. And in Recovery, participants tried their hand at stitching up a banana or a chicken breast, led by **** (nurse name?).
You might not be excited to have surgery at Clark Fork Valley Hospital, but rest assured, there is a very talented and friendly team with excellent equipment there if you need them.