New hospital inches closer to opening

Despite multiple projected opening dates, the North Platte Valley Medical Center (NPVMC) is a little closer to being open with a goal of the last week of April.

During a press tour in October, Mincy had predicted an opening in early January 2023.

For various reason, the North Platte Valley Medical Center (NPVMC) grand opening has continually been delayed. Supply issues, parts broken in shipping and closed roads have hampered efforts by both the staff and board to open the doors of the critical access hospital.

Jeff Mincy, CEO of the NPVMC, said the opening date is a constantly moving target as dealing with both state and federal governments can be a challenge. Several issues were found which needed to be addressed during the last inspection by the Wyoming State Health Department.

When state inspectors were at the facility in November, they told Mincy there needed to be more exit signs installed. It was anticipated the inspectors would be returning the week of January 9 for another walkthrough.

Mincy said they are making progress and it has been frustrating for the contractors, the staff and the community.

They are close to being fully staffed.

At a December 2022 roundtable, Mincy said NPVMC had partnered with Aligned Providers Wyoming to staff the majority of their needs. Aligned Providers Wyoming (APW) is an emergency, urgent care, and hospitalist medicine management group that was formed in 2016 to serve Cheyenne Regional Medical Center's emergency deparment. They now serve more than 13 hospital contracts across Wyoming and Nebraska, including Ivinson Memorial Hospital and Memorial Hospital of Carbon County. APW has signed three providers for NPVMC including Reggie M. Gillens, nurse practitioner; Steven L. Martin, physician assistant; and Christopher Shores, advanced practice nurse practitioner.

The hospital will be fully staffed during the day, with the Emergency Room (ER) open 24 hours per day. The ER will be staffed with Advanced Practice Providers (APP). An APP includes physician assistants, and nurse practitioners with additional training in emergency medicine. They will be on 24 hour shifts. They have a room where they can sleep. The nurse and the Medic work 12 hour shifts and will be available 24/7.

Dr. Fitzsimmons is the Chief of Staff for the entire facility and will be working out of the clinic. There is another physician, Dr. Fairbanks and he will be be specifically in the ER. The doctor will not be on site 24/7, but they will have access to Telemedicine. They will have a robot that they can roll into the room including neurology, psychiatry, stroke specialist, etc. They are using technology to fill the gaps since it isn't feasible to have a physician in the ER 24 hours a day.

Mincy addressed questions about air ambulance services. He said that they do have an approved landing area on the back side of the hospital. The regional director for Classic Air and the CEO from Classic Air came out to visit the site. Classic has a helicopter in Rawlins that can be here in about 15-20 minutes. Mincy said we also have access to two fixed wing aircraft which can fly in more extreme weather

They come out of Craig and can be on the ground at the Saratoga Airport in about 30 minutes. There are fixed wings that fly out of Riverton as well, and can be here in less than hour.

South Central Wyoming Emergency Medical Services (SCWEMS) will partner with NPVMC to a certain extent. Mincy said that having the NPVMC here in Saratoga will decrease greatly the amount of time that SCWEMS crews spend on a call, on task. However, in retrospect, it will increase the demand for other types of transport. Plans to incorporate SCWEMS have been discussed. The SCWEMS joint powers board would have to make the decision to hand over the ambulance service to the hospital. Mincy said the critical access benefits would then extend to the ambulance service.

Mincy said when they looked at the model that is already going well in Kimball, Nebraska they decided it would work well here.

In December, Mincy was asked about housing. He said then although it may be a challenge, there has been a response from the rental property owners in the area telling him that they won't rent their house out until he tells them he doesn't need it for his staff. Mincy said Dr. Fitzsimmons, the current medical director of the Platte Valley Clinic found housing through NVPMC, as did Eva Marie Popelka, the chief operating officer for the NPVMC. Mincy said he has been very fortunate that people in the community have been very supportive of this project and he currently has five rentals on his list that are available to rent.

The extended care wing of the hospital is where the current residents of the Saratoga Care Center will be residing. There will be a nurse and a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) that work the 12 hour day shift, and a nurse and CNA that work the 12 hour night shift. There will be another CNA that will work a 12 hour swing shift.

Mincy said that they are a small enough facility that they will all be involved in patient care. He said when it gets busy, the offices don't need to be staffed, the patients need to be taken care of.

Mincy was excited about the American Rescue Plan (ARPA) grant that they were awarded in the amount of $3.5 Million. This was a chunk of money to help improve healthcare in rural communities and improve air quality in long term care facilities. They have definitely checked both of those boxes, said Mincy.

This money will be a huge help while they are waiting for Medicare and Medicaid start paying.

Once the NPVMC opens its doors, the Platte Valley Clinic will move from the Corbett Medical Building into the NPVMC. Mincy said the clinic is already state certified. To avoid confusion, patients will not visit the clinic's new location until the entire facility is complete.