December 19, 2022 |
In Saratoga, officials with North Platte Valley Medical Center announced that the doors are anticipated to open to patients in mid-February.
Delays have continued to push back the opening date of the facility at 13th Street and West Bridge Avenue. Originally slated to open in August of 2022, supply chain issues led to shipment critical electrical equipment falling behind schedule. During an early October tour, the CEO of the Platte Valley Clinic and Saratoga Care Center Jeff Mincy said an early January 2023 opening was more likely.
However, more equipment delays followed. Mincy said last week he’s been waiting for a coil for the rooftop air handlers and a cap for a roof parapet. With those items in hand, construction can finally finish.
Pictured above: A November 30, 2022 photo of signage installation underway at the North Platte Valley Medical Center. Photo courtesy NPVMC/Facebook.
Now the hospital is waiting on final approval from the State of Wyoming. State inspectors did a preliminary walkthrough of the nearly completed facility at the end of November. More exit signs needed to be installed, inspectors said. Easy fix, Mincy told Bigfoot 99.
State inspectors will return on January 9th. The hospital CEO said about a month after the facility earns state certification, the doors will open to patients. Mincey said that at this point, the opening date is anticipated to be in mid-February.
When Bigfoot 99 toured the nearly completed hospital in October, the radiology and imaging equipment was not fully assembled. Mincy said everything is ready to go, except the Computerized Tomography machine. Tuesday’s snow prevented the technician from completing the assembly.
If the hospital passes the state inspection, Mincy said they could practically open that day. The hospital CEO said he nearly full roster.
Mincy said there will only be a handful of nurses and doctors employed by the hospital itself. The rest of the staffing will be provided by Aligned Providers of Wyoming.
With a shared vision of customer service and critical care, Mincy said partnering with APW was a no-brainer. APW’s ability to recruit people from across the state will take some of the burden off Mincy’s regular staff.
Mincy acknowledged that finding housing for the hospital staff may be challenging. He said reports from Bigfoot 99 and other media sources have spurred landlords in the community to offer their rentals to hospital employees. Mincy said everyone has been able to find a place to live.
Mincy said the prospect of practicing small-town medicine appeals to a certain type of person. He described the difference in mindset between an urban hospital and a medical center in a small community.
The North Platte Valley Medical Center CEO said he plans to operate as a “critical access hospital.” A critical access hospital receives more funding from government medical programs than a larger, urban facility.
Mincy said the hospital must meet specific standards in key areas to be certified as a critical access facility.
Mincy said the critical access benefits could be extended to South Central Wyoming EMS, but it would require their services being taken over by the hospital. The CEO said the decision would fall on the SCWEMS joint powers board.
Mincy talked about SCWEMS’s time on task, or the amount of time the ambulance spends with each patient. Taking someone from Saratoga to the Memorial Hospital of Carbon County in Rawlins can take upwards of two and a half hours. Mincy said, when the North Platte Valley Medical Center opens, that time would be greatly reduced. However, it will increase the demand on SCWEMS for other types of transport.
Once the North Platte Valley Medical Center opens, the Platte Valley Clinic will move from the Corbett Medical Building, on South River Street, into the hospital building. Mincy said, since the clinic is already state certified, they could begin operations as soon as construction of the hospital is done.
To avoid confusion, Mincy said he’ll wait until the entire facility is functioning before having patients visit the clinic’s new location.
A few more components and a state inspection are all that stand in the way of the North Platte Valley Medical Center’s opening. According to hospital CEO Jeff Mincy the hospital is slated to begin seeing patients in mid-February.
Click here to watch a replay of the recent NPVMC Hospital Roundtable public meeting
