North Platte Valley Medical Center opens doors and care to Valley residents

The night is quiet, with snow drifts reaching the window sills. Streets are filled with slush, freezing quickly as the outside temperature drops below zero. A cough and a wheeze breaks the silence and a mother's hand brushes her child's feverish brow. Fear grips her heart when she sees the readout of 103 on the thermometer. The child coughs again, struggling to take a breath, whimpering weakly. Only a few short weeks ago, this mother's only choice would have been to call an ambulance, while the Emergency Medical crew provided life-saving measures to save the child, the driver would negotiate a dangerous ride through wintery conditions that could take more than an hour to arrive at the nearest hospital. Thanks to the undaunted commitment from locals residents that willingly navigated the minefield of building a new hospital where one has never existed, this child is only minutes away from a warm emergency room with a doctor to tend to her. The North Platte Valley Medical Center (NPVMC) is more than a hospital. The medical center shares its square footage with the Platte Valley Medical Clinic, a fully functional laboratory, and a radiology unit, with trained staff available around the clock. Opening its doors only a few short weeks ago, this facility stands at the west edge of town, a beacon of hope, a light in the darkness for those in need. 

The Emergency Room, according to CEO Jeff Mincy had one patient the first day, the next day there were six within about 3 hours. That number has grown to over 20, with 4 coming in via local Emergency Medical Services (EMS), and admitting 3 patients to the floor. Mincy said they have 5 acute beds available. "There have been a few bumps in the road that no one had really thought about, but for the most part, it's gone well."

The Emergency Room is open 24 hours, with staff in the building. In the Emergency Room after business hours is the same as during business hours. They have an ER Provider, a technician (a paramedic, or an emergency medical technician), and an RN. There are four providers assigned to North Platte Valley Medical Center, three of which have homes here in Saratoga. 

Saving lives isn't the only blessing this complex of rooms and halls provides for the people of the North Platte Valley. Preventive medicine is high on the list of assets. Mincy said that they had performed 21 mammograms over three days. With mammogram appointments being unavailable for months, this local resource is a huge blessing for the Valley, and makes a crucial piece of women's health readily available. Some of the mammograms performed that day required a repeat study, and in a few cases, the results were received before the patient left the building. With their ability to do ultrasounds on-site as well, they were able to identify suspicious lesions within 48 hours of the screening and the patient is already receiving treatment. Early diagnosis is imperative, and now it's possible.  

Jolena Martin, a physician assistant with 18 years of experience and passion for women's healthcare is seeing patients at the NPVMC. Her husband, Steve is also a physician's assistant in the Emergency Room. 

They currently have visiting specialists including Pediatricians, Surgery, OB/GYN, Geriatrics and Spine Surgery. They are using the rooms built into the structure for that specific purpose. They just brought on Premier Bone and Joint, visiting every other week. 

Mincy said that he believes that over the next few months, there will be more providers reaching out to be added to the list of visiting specialists at the NPVMC. 

Mincy said, they started receiving patients at 8 a.m. on the 30th of May, and the entire Saratoga Care Center residents were moved in by 10:30 that morning. Mincy said the residents were so excited that they were sitting at the front door in their wheelchairs, packed and ready to go. They have settled in thanks to some preplanning by the staff. They asked each resident what personal items could they part with for a few days, and they were happy to give the staff their items ahead of time. By the time the Care Center residents were in their rooms, they had their pictures on the wall, and personal items in their closets. Another example of taking extra pains in moving these elderly citizens was to take into consideration their comfort level with room location. In one instance, a resident with severe dementia who, for the last several years has had a room, fourth door down on the left, with the green sign on the door. The staff made sure this resident is the fourth door down the hall on the left with the green sign on the door. There was a good deal of preparation, especially with residents that may need extra care and need to be close to the nurse's station. An advantage this facility has over the larger ones is that the residents see the same staff members day after day unless there's a new hire. This makes it much easier for a resident to adapt to new surroundings. 

The next goal is to become designated as a Trauma hospital and a Pediatric Readiness designation. NPVMC is already set up to handle these patients, but there are specific steps that have to be followed and requirements that must be met to be designated.

Mincy said they work closely with the Memorial Hospital of Carbon County Health Center. They have had several CT scans referred to them by MHCC Health Center. Healthcare and saving lives in their priority. In some ways, they are competitors, but not where it counts, in enriching the lives of those who live in the Upper North Platte Valley with state of the art healthcare.