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Pulse Quickens at County Health Center

By Beacon Staff

Six months after receiving federal money and moving into an a new facility, officials at the Flathead Community Health Center report seeing thousands of patients, most of who are uninsured.

“We’re getting busier all of the time,” said Executive Director Wendy Doely. “The dental clinic has been overwhelmed.”

The health center will receive $650,000 a year for the next two years in federal stimulus money and has expanded to a new facility on the third floor of the Earl Bennett building. Officials said the daily schedule has been packed with patients, a majority of them uninsured.

Doely said more than 70 percent of patients were uninsured when the center opened, a number that has not improved.

“It’s certainly a reflection of the economic feeling in the valley,” Doely said.

Dr. Chris Holdhusen, one of the clinic’s two physicians, said he has noticed ripples of the recession in his patients.

“I’ve seen many, many more people who have lost their insurance and have no hope of getting it back,” Holdhusen said. “The benefits have evaporated for most people.”

Along with lost insurance and disappearing benefits, Holdhusen said the added stress of the recession has brought more people to the clinic seeking mental health care because they have no access elsewhere.

To accommodate all residents seeking care, patients pay on a sliding fee scale according to their income. Those earning 200 percent of the federal poverty line or less get a discount, with the difference subsidized by federal dollars.

Doely said the fees are set at the private sector level so as not to undercut local private practices. The major difference is that federal money helps pay for services patients may not be able to afford. Holdhusen called it “cost-effective” care.

To help cut health care costs, Holdhusen said the community health center focuses on preventative treatment to counter problems before they become overwhelming for the patient. This includes early cancer and diabetes detection, as well as lifestyle changes.

The medical clinic employs two doctors and two nurse practitioners, while the dental side has one dentist and one hygienist. Doely said each physician sees 18 to 20 patients a day, and the dentist is often booked.

Even with the busy schedule, Holdhusen said the staff tries to keep open schedules and refrain from booking themselves solid for weeks in advance. Doely said this approach allows for walk-ins and for patients to get an appointment typically within a week.

Holdhusen said the only difference between the patients he sees now and the patients he saw in private practice is income.

“When you’re in the room with the patient, it’s the very same,” Holdhusen said. “The medicine is the same.”

Federal money comes with federal quality requirements, Doely said. To ensure the quality of care remains up to standard, appropriateness of care, making sure proper medications are administered and charts are followed.

“It’s similar to what we do in hospitals,” Holdhusen said.

The center received $1.29 million in state expansion funds from the 2007 Legislature, which helped hire more support, including the dental clinic that was previously in a bus in front of the building, Doely said. They started seeing federal money in March 2009, a relief after applying for grants since 2003, Doely said.

Access to care is the biggest goal, Doely said, adding that she hopes to continue to expand the health center. But to do that, the center needs to keep attracting full-paying patients with insurance or Medicare or Medicaid to fund any growth. The annual $650,000 only covers roughly half of the center’s running costs, Doely said, so they need other income streams to function.

Another goal to be part of the community, not “some government institution,” Holdhusen said. Doely agreed, stressing that the clinic would provide the same care to any patient, regardless of income status.

“The doors are open, and anyone can come see us,” Doely said.