fbpx

How Health Care Grows from Here

With unprecedented growth in the local health-care industry and changes to how we access medical resources, what does it mean for the Flathead Valley?

By Beacon Staff

The health-care industry has become one of the Flathead Valley’s economic mainstays and drivers, with thousands employed in health-care jobs and expansion within existing health-care organizations.

Growing health care is a balance of supply and demand, both in terms of patient access and a supply of providers. Significant infrastructure expansions, new classes to fill employment gaps, and neighbors coming together to help each other are a few of the ways health care continues to grow locally, despite uncertainty at the state and federal levels.

 


 

Construction at Kalispell Regional Healthcare in Kalispell on Jan. 24, 2018. Justin Franz | Flathead Beacon

After a Burst of Construction, KRH Looks to Sustain Growth

As three major projects head toward completion, CEO Pamela Robertson seeks to grow existing and potential hospital programs

by Molly Priddy

When Pamela Robertson arrived in Kalispell as the new CEO of Kalispell Regional Healthcare, it was less like walking into an office than taking to a raft and figuring out how to ride the existing momentum rolling through health care in the Flathead Valley.

>>> READ MORE

 


Dr. Ken Madsen inspects Johanna Schaeffer’s teeth at the Flathead Community Health Center in 2015. Beacon file photo.

Montanans on Medicaid Face Cut to Dental Services in 2018

Proposed reduction in Medicaid services expected to go into effect in March, with a public hearing on the changes scheduled for Feb. 1

by Molly Priddy

When Dr. Wendy Nickisch removes teeth from an adult patient, she doesn’t just see an extraction on her schedule.

As those teeth come out, she recognizes the effect their loss will have on the patient’s ability not only to chew, but also on social interactions and general health.

>>> READ MORE

 


The Rebecca Chaney Broussard Center for Nursing and Health Science at Flathead Valley Community College on Jan. 24, 2018. Justin Franz | Flathead Beacon

Filling the Valley’s Growing Medical Needs

FVCC’s medical lab technology program was created in concert with local hospitals

by Justin Franz

As the number of patients grows in the Flathead Valley, so does the number of biological samples that need to be tested: blood, urine, the list goes on. Unfortunately for medical laboratory scientists like Denise Pacovsky, who has worked at Kalispell Regional Healthcare for more than a decade, the number of people who can help her in the lab has not kept pace with demand.

>>> READ MORE

 


Tammy Harmon, Jane Emmert and Terry Hamik at ASSIST in Kalispell, a non-profit that helps elderly people with medical needs. Justin Franz | Flathead Beacon

Neighbors Helping Neighbors

ASSIST helps people recovering from a medical crisis regain their health and independence; hosting workshops for people interested in volunteering on
Feb. 16 and 23

by Myers Reece

It’s difficult for anybody recovering from a hospitalization or other medical crisis to get back on their feet, but it can be overwhelming, even impossible, for those without income stability or a working knowledge of navigating resources and filling out complex paperwork, or who don’t have a car or family or education, or are limited by age or health. Maybe they face a combination of those inhibiting factors and others.

>>> READ MORE