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Playing a heart attack victim, Murray Lorance (right) is checked out by at Snoqualmie Valley Hospital.
NEW — 1:37 p.m. March 3, 2010
Murray Lorance said he didn’t feel so good. Pale and disoriented, he wandered into the Snoqualmie Valley Hospital emergency room, complaining of chest pain.
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NEW — 10:14 a.m. Jan. 22, 2010
Washington state Attorney General Rob KcKenna is scheduled to be the guest speaker during a Youth Prescription Drug Abuse Community Education Forum at Mount Si High School Feb. 24. Experts from the Snoqualmie Valley Hospital and Seattle’s SAMA Foundation will join him. Read more
Snoqualmie Valley Hospital switches to electronic charts
Doctors are notorious for their scrawling handwriting on charts and prescription slips, but with the advent of electronic medical charts their legibility may soon become an antiquated joke. Read more
From Staff
Enrollment for Snoqualmie Hospital’s Affordable Access Program is going well, according to Clinic Operation Administrator Kris Haight.
“We’ve heard from people in the community who can’t afford health care that this is a great offering,” Haight said.
The Affordable Access Program will provide primary care services such as checkups, physicals and other visits to the North Bend Medical Clinic for a monthly rate of $30. Beyond the monthly rate, enrollees will pay only $5 per clinic visit, and a one-time $45 set-up fee. The program does not cover specialty and emergency care.
The program is designed to promote health, prevent disease, diagnose and treat minor illnesses and injuries, as well as manage chronic diseases.
The enrollment deadline for a participant to start the program in September was extended to Aug. 18. Now that the deadline has passed, new enrollees can start the program in October. However, Haight said that since the program is new, the hospital may allow some flexibility for individuals who want to participate in the program before October.
“Primary health care services must be able to focus on long-term health and promotion and disease prevention, in addition to addressing more immediate patient needs in order to truly benefit the community,” North Bend Clinic Physicians’ Assistant Ken Wiscomb said. “Financial barriers often stand in the way of both levels of service. Folks end up receiving urgent care in the emergency room or putting off other health concerns until they too become urgent. This increases costs and further limits access. I believe providing affordable access to primary care is the first step towards fixing this problem and improving the health and well-being of our community.”
For more information about the program, contact the hospital at 831-3430 and leave contact information to receive a return call, or send an e-mail to affordableacess@snoqualmiehospital.org, or simply drop by the North Bend Medical Clinic at 213 Bendigo Boulevard North, Suite 1.
Enrollment for Snoqualmie Hospital’s Affordable Access Program is going well, according to Clinic Operation Administrator Kris Haight.
“We’ve heard from people in the community who can’t afford health care that this is a great offering,” Haight said.
The Affordable Access Program will provide primary care services such as checkups, physicals and other visits to the North Bend Medical Clinic for a monthly rate of $30. Beyond the monthly rate, enrollees will pay only $5 per clinic visit, and a one-time $45 set-up fee. The program does not cover specialty and emergency care.
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By Michael Bayless Rowe
A pilot program for the Snoqualmie Valley Hospital District’s primary health care coverage plan begins Aug. 1.
The program is designed to make access to primary health care coverage more affordable for uninsured and underinsured individuals. For $30 a month, and a one-time $45 registration fee, participants can see primary care physicians at the North Bend clinic for a $5 co-pay.
If the program is successful, it will expand to the district’s other clinics.
The pilot program will last for 60 days. It will only register 100 for primary care coverage. However, if the program expands, there will be no cap on the number of people who can participate, said Hospital District CEO Rodger McCollum.
Dr. Ken Wiscomb at the North Bend clinic thinks that there are many people who could benefit from this type of primary care health coverage that focuses on preventive care. Wiscomb has seen what expanding access to primary care can do to turn peoples’ lives around. He helped organize free clinics in 1986 after seeing an increased demand for services at area food banks and other social service providers.
Wiscomb has never forgotten the number of lives the free clinics were able to change. He said one of the first patients was a recent college graduate with a broken ankle. Without health insurance, the woman was unable to afford health care, and eventually ended up homeless. After receiving treatment for her injuries, she was working within six months, Wiscomb said.
“If we want to fix health care in the U.S., we must focus on disease prevention, instead of problem solving,” Wiscomb said.
A troubling sign of the times that Wiscomb sees now are the number of patients who pay in cash, instead of using health insurance. Wiscomb said that the North Bend clinic gets more cash payments than any other clinic he has worked in, which is a strong indication that people don’t have health insurance.
For many people, an unexpected health care emergency can be the straw that breaks the camel’s back in terms of their personal finances.
“I think there are folks out there who could use this,” Wiscomb said.
McCollum doesn’t see the problem of people without health insurance or with too little insurance going away. During the recession, many small businesses have stopped offering health insurance benefits for employees, or are moving to plans with high deductibles. Individuals have also been cutting back on their health insurance coverage, moving away from expensive plans that provide full coverage to plans that cover only catastrophic injuries or illness.
The hospital CEO does not see those companies or people going back to full coverage, once the economic recession is over. He thinks that, as the economy picks up, programs like the hospital district’s primary health coverage program will become more viable.
Only individuals, not businesses, can sign up for the hospital district’s primary health care plan. Businesses that are interested in providing primary health care coverage to their employees as a benefit will have to work out arrangements with their employees who, as individuals, can choose to participate in the program.
Reach reporter Michael Bayless Rowe at mrowe@snovalleystar.com or 392-6434, ext. 248. To comment on this story, go to www.snovalleystar.com
A pilot program for the Snoqualmie Valley Hospital District’s primary health care coverage plan begins Aug. 1.
The program is designed to make access to primary health care coverage more affordable for uninsured and underinsured individuals. For $30 a month, and a one-time $45 registration fee, participants can see primary care physicians at the North Bend clinic for a $5 co-pay.
If the program is successful, it will expand to the district’s other clinics.
The pilot program will last for 60 days. It will only register 100 for primary care coverage. However, if the program expands, there will be no cap on the number of people who can participate, said Hospital District CEO Rodger McCollum.
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By Michael Bayless Rowe
The Snoqualmie Valley Hospital District is getting closer to its goal of building a new hospital for the Valley.
The hospital hopes to close on the purchase of eight acres for its new building on July 22. The hospital site is located in Snoqualmie near the Snoqualmie Parkway I-90 exit. The hospital district is purchasing the land for approximately $5 million.
The funds for the land purchase come from $21 million in limited tax general obligation bonds that were sold June 14, and approved by the hospital board at a special meeting late last month. The bonds will be paid with the existing property tax revenue stream that supports the hospital district. The hospital district collects 35 cents per every $1,000 of assessed property. The district can collect up to 75 cents, but would have to get voter approval before raising taxes.
Hospital district CEO Rodger McCollum said that $15 million from the bond sale would be used to restructure the district’s short and long-term debts. The remaining funds from the bond sale will be used for the hospital design, permits and other costs.
After the land purchase, the hospital will continue with the design process for the new building. Construction is expected to start in spring 2010. The King County Department of Health will review the design and construction plans for the new facility.
To finance the construction of the new hospital, the district has an agreement with the Snoqualmie Tribe to purchase the existing hospital on Ernie Wade Road adjacent to the tribe’s casino. The tribe has agreed to buy the old building and the 50-acre tract it sits on for $30 million. The tribe plans to convert the old hospital into a tribal health center.
The new building is planned to be 65,000-70,000 square feet, which is more than twice the size of the existing hospital.
The Snoqualmie Valley Hospital District is getting closer to its goal of building a new hospital for the Valley.
The hospital hopes to close on the purchase of eight acres for its new building on July 22. The hospital site is located in Snoqualmie near the Snoqualmie Parkway I-90 exit. The hospital district is purchasing the land for approximately $5 million.
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In a 6-1 vote, Snoqualmie City Council approved a change to the land uses allowed on an undeveloped piece of Snoqualmie Ridge property. The change would permit the relocation of the Snoqualmie Valley Hospital and possibly attract a hotel and other new businesses.
The only hitch in the council’s decision to change the uses allowed for the piece of property known as S-21 was whether or not to allow a drive-thru restaurant on the property. Snoqualmie has typically not favored drive-thru restaurants, but since the S-21 site is next to Interstate 90, the council eventually decided that a drive-thru in that area would be okay.
The Snoqualmie Valley Hospital needed the city’s decision to move forward with its deal on the property, which was contingent on being allowed a change of land use. The Ridge developers would like to bring a hotel and possibly more retail to the site.
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The Snoqualmie Valley Hospital is in the black for the first time since at least 2005, according to Chief Financial Officer Don Galer.
In the first quarter of 2009 the Snoqualmie Valley Hospital generated a profit of $240,000. As of the end of April, the hospital district has made a profit of $360,000. In both March and April, the hospital district broke the $2 million mark in gross revenues.
In year’s past, hospital finances have struggled to keep up with expenses.
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A new plan may help Snoqualmie Valley residents save money when visiting primary care physicians at area clinics.
On May 14, the board of directors of the King County Hospital District No. 4, approved the creation of a prepaid primary health care plan. So far, only two medical providers in the state — one in Seattle and another in Spokane — offer some form of prepaid plans.
The plan will allow people to pay $30 a month and a $5 co-pay to be seen by primary care physicians at any of the district’s three clinics. The plan is intended for people without insurance or with high-deductible insurance plans.
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Snoqualmie Valley Hospital District’s board of directors made a decision April 14 to allow its physicians to attend assisted suicides under the state’s new death with dignity law.
The main issue that the board discussed was whether or not the hospital would have any liability under the new law.
Voters approved the death with dignity law in a referendum during the November 2008 elections. The law, known as Initiative 1000, allows doctors to assist with suicides by writing prescriptions for lethal doses of medicine.
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