Montana's frontier communities have always survived and thrived in the face of adversity by working together, neighbor to neighbor.
It was in that spirit that a consortium of 15 hospitals joined together in late 2003 to establish the Northcentral Montana Healthcare Alliance.
Together we are able to provide synergies and resources that most rural hospitals could not develop on their own, such as telehealth services, up-to-date medical technology, education for rural health care professionals and grant funding, to name only a few.
With strong support from Benefis Health System, the region's tertiary referral center, NMHA helps rural hospitals provide as much care as possible to their local communities. Only when necessary are rural patients brought to Great Falls for specialty or emergent care. NMHA also works with Benefis to assure that rural patients are returned to their communities and their local physicians as quickly as possible.
In five short years, NMHA has:
- Been awarded more than $2 million in grants to upgrade telehealth technology, provide computerized radiology and expand access to services for all NMHA members.
- Established a program with Montana State University-Great Falls College of Technology to bring CNA-to-LPN courses to nursing students working at rural sites via the REACH Montana Telehealth Network.
- Established annual educational conferences for regional hospital board members and senior administration, and continuing medical education for rural physicians and mid-level providers.
- Initiated a federally funded grant program to implement electronic health records in rural clinics and Critical Access Hospitals.
- Created peer groups of health care professionals among NMHA members to share ideas and discuss challenges and solutions. The peer groups create "pools" of resources to deal with the latest challenges in providing rural health care.
We are encouraged that Montana Sen. Max Baucus is leading the reform of our ailing national health care delivery system, as he is keenly aware of the true "safety net" of health care provided by rural hospitals across our state. We urge the readers of the Tribune to stay informed of the critical issues facing our health care providers.
In the frontier spirit, we are working together to bring our rural communities the variety and quality of health care services they deserve.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Jack King
Quelle/Source: Great Falls Tribune, 07.05.2009
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