Foundation for health

The Corbett Medical Foundation (Foundation), named for former Valley doctor Ray A. Corbett, was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) in September of 1993 and set their bylaws in January of 1994. The Foundation was started to remove both fund raising and dispersement burdens from the governing body of the Town of Saratoga.

Mission Statement

Generally stated, the mission statement of the Foundation was set to respond to the critical medical needs of the Carbon County School District No. 2 (CCSD2) area. That statement also notes the extreme difficulties in encouraging members of the medical profession to locate in Saratoga, designated as the population center of the district, where less than desirable economic circumstances and work demands prevail. The document allows the Foundation to provide for travel, lodging and moving expenses as an incentive to relocate and goes on to cite the dire need for an acceptable medical facility and a continuous and efficient ambulance service.

The mission statement then goes into provide for, and ensure, a medical clinic and practitioner for the area and provides for capital improvements to the clinic and the purchase and maintenance of medical equipment, supplies and furnishings as necessary.

The last part of the mission statement confines the Foundation to strictly charitable activities and prohibits any funds being used for publishing any literature or statements aimed at influencing legislation or political campaigns.

Initial Players

The board of directors for the original Foundation were: John Lunt, M.D., Laura (Sue) Ellis, Kurt Bucholz, Don Herold, Will Speer and Mike Glode. Of those original six members only Mike Glode, the current Foundation president, remains. Laura Bucholz, who is now the organization’s vice president, began to fill in for her husband, Kurt, when illness began to be a problem for him in 2006. The current board consists of five members as the board eliminated the ambulance director’s seat some years ago, after South Central Wyoming Emergency Medical Service took over the ambulance service. The current five members are: Mike Glode, president; Laura Bucholz, vice president; Melissa Faust, secretary/treasurer, Dulcie Schalk and Judd Campbell.

Getting Started

In describing how the Foundation got its start, Mike Glode said, “The town (Saratoga) themselves did the fundraising to outfit the clinic that was across the way where (Doctor) John Lunt was. They bought the x-ray machine and some exam tables and things like that.” Glode continued, “Eventually some people decided to give money to enhance that and that’s when the idea come up that maybe the council would not be the best avenue—that a 501(c)(3) would be better than that.”

Glode commented that former state representative Kurt Bucholz was the driving force for much of the Foundation’s creation along with former Saratoga doctor John Lunt.

When Dr. Lunt was beginning to think of retiring, Bucholz and Lunt got together and decided that it would be a lot easier to recruit a provider if the town had a decent clinic.

At the time, the town used a clinic which occupied the north end of the building which currently contains Platte Valley Dental and Valley Pharmacy.

That portion of the building, which was donated to the town by John Johnson, housed both the clinic and the ambulance barn.

Laura Bucholz said, “We started raising money with the intention of improving that north half.”

Glode said, “Our (the Foundation’s) intention was to raise $250,000-$500,000 to add on to the clinic.”

Because Johnson had donated the north half of the building to the town with other businesses occupying the south half, a two-hour firebreak wall was required to be added to keep the clinic at that location.

“That wall would have been worth more than the whole building was worth,” said Glode, adding, “That’s when we switched and said ‘okay’ we have to go back for another round of funding because we had all the funding we said we were going to get.”

Bucholz and Glode said they then raised about $800,000 dollars to build the current clinic in 1996.

The pair seemed proud of the fact that Saratoga’s own Dave Johnson designed the building and local contractor Custom Builders erected the structure.

After the clinic was complete the Foundation focused on buying equipment and fixtures to fill out the clinic.

Providing Support

“We didn’t get in the business of supporting the providers until Dean Bartholomew was the physician,” Glode said, “We thought of that idea because we were having a hard time keeping mid-level providers past the state’s subsidy.”

The mentioned state subsidy is in the form of debt relief for doctors practicing in Wyoming.

Brush Creek Ranch stepped in to help the Foundation raise funds through activities which eventually became the Valley Strong concerts.

Though funds raised through the Valley Strong concerts go to the cause of the donator’s choice, the Corbett Medical Foundation has requested special sponsorships over the years. Those sponsorships have amounted to several hundred thousand dollars over time.

These additional funds allowed the Foundation to improve provider’s salaries, help with recruitment and retention, aid in student loans and pay liability insurance for the providers.

Glode stressed “If we somehow make clear that the Foundation is just that—it raises money then it disperses money for its purposes and nothing else,” explaining that the only oversight the Foundation has in what is still a private business is summed up with this question: “Does the clinic get money or does it not?”

Glode framed the funding situation thus, “You know the old adage when the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail,” Glode continued, “In our case that is the only thing we could do is to refuse to advance money to subsidize the operation.”

 Glode continued, “The purpose to subsidizing the operation is have a full-time physician and enough mid-level so they can spread the 24/7 call without burning someone out.”

“John Lunt was the last of the country docs. He could handle 24/7 call with one mid level because he knew how to do that.”

Bucholz commented, adding, “It wasn’t as complicated then. The regulations now with all the ICD 10 coding and what you have to have to be able to do all this stuff now the knowledge and the training is putting small, one man clinics out of business.”

Glode agreed, saying one man clinics are still going in larger cities but that they are not providing 24/7 call. He then said “They are running this thing almost like a county ER where they take all comers, whether they get paid or not, and it is up to us to make up the difference so that we get the service to the community.”

Bucholz continued the thought, “Our town could not support a full-time doctor without help. We might have a part-time with a PA or two at best.”

Helping with the

Pharmacy

When the pharmacy was discussing leaving town, circumstances allowed the Foundation to step in and help with that too.

Money was raised to move the ambulance garage to it’s current location which left the place the ambulance garage had occupied empty.

So there was a town-owned property that was available.

Bucholz explained, “To build a pharmacy there are lots of codes and regulations and ADA bathrooms and with all those drugs it has to be a secure facility … and we paid for that. So everything in there aside from the inventory is owned by the town so if (the pharmacist) left tomorrow we would be able to bring in a pharmacist without a large financial outlay to them.” She then paralleled that situation with the clinic, pointing out that the town owns that facility also.

Dispersing Funds

The Foundation also administrates several charitable health-related funds. They take in and disperse funds raised by SkillsUSA Tech Kids during the Susan G. Komen Cancer walk. The Foundation funds the end of life care facility at the Saratoga Care Center. They also administrate the Diana Raymer Benevolent Fund. Of these charitable funds, the Foundation helps ensure they are getting to where they will do the most good.

Mission Going Forward

While it has not been established how funding will be dispersed when, and if, a Critical Access Hospital, with its attending 24/7 emergency room, is established, the Foundation remains committed to helping to fund a 24/7 call situation at the Platte Valley Medical Clinic.