Small Town News

Healthy progress

---

Northland satisfied with clinic, relationship with hospital

With an emphasis on affordable and efficient health care, officials of Northland Community Health Center (NCHC) report the recent acquisition of the Rolla Clinic is going well.

Faye Hagen is the Chief Executive Officer of NCHC and works out of the administration office which is located in Turtle Lake. NCHC is a non-profit entity that is locally and community owned. It's governed by a board of directors which is made up of individuals from each of the communities it serves. NCHC offers a sliding fee scale which provides a way for lower income individuals and families to receive health care services at a discount based on their income.

Hagen explained that any acquisition will experience bumps in the road, but indicated that overall, the clinic in Rolla has been doing well.

"We have a wonderful staff who have all done a tremendous job with the transition," Hagen said. "We've had to do some reorganizing, but everyone has worked well to make it go smoothly."

Northland Community Health Center has been in Rolla since late December.

Other NCHC locations are in Rolette, McClusky and Turtle Lake.

While the acquisition has gone well, there have been some issues that needed to be addressed, according to Hagen.

Chief among those is a dilemma facing nearly every health care provider in the state: staffing. NCHC-Rolla has three primary mid-level care providers and one doctor, but as Hagen said, "we're understaffed. Recruiting to fill positions is always an ongoing process, but we ultimately want to find more providers so we can see more patients."

One of those mid-level providers, Annie Gerhardt, recently announced her plans to leave the clinic in May.

According to June Banse, Chief Operating Officer for NCHC-Rolla, the clinic sees approximately 60 patients a day on average, and over 300 a week.

"We have had success filling our mid-level positions in the past and I'm confident we'll be able to do that again," Banse said.

While officials work on filling various positions, Hagen said a medical doctor and a mid-level provider would be ideal. They are also working closely with officials from Presentation Medical Center (PMC.)

In January, PMC's CEO, Kimber Wraalstad, said the working relationship between the two entities, which share contracted services, was "not particularly good."

Hagen indicated those relations are improving.

"We've worked together with the hospital to put together a work plan and as we follow through on that plan, things are falling together and we're very pleased with our relationship. There has to be a lot of cooperation between both entities and we have had that," Hagen said.

Wraalstad agreed, saying "I believe our goal is to continue working together for the benefit of the community."

Hagen said the clinic's ongoing efforts to become fully staffed have not negatively impacted patient care.

"We are strategically positioned to be key players in the health care issues we face today. We provide access to care for everyone, and stress primary and preventive care. We feel a healthy community is a strong community."

Being involved in the community is something Hagen said NCHC will strive to do throughout the year. An example of that is NCHC's National Start Walking Day, which is scheduled for April 8 from 12:15-12:45. The walk consists of NCHC staff members and community members walking together for awareness of heart disease.

"We've worked together with the hospital to put together a work plan and as we follow through on that plan, things are falling together and we're very pleased with our relationship. There has to be a lot of cooperation between both entities and we have had that."

Faye Hagen, CEO of Northland Community Health Center



Copyright 2010 Turtle Mountain Star, Rolla, North Dakota. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

© 2010 Turtle Mountain Star Rolla, North Dakota. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

More from Turtle Mountain Star