One thing was clear from the results of a survey sent out to Seeley Lake residents from the Seeley-Swan Hospital District — not everyone is totally clear on what’s offered at the local medical center. Even from a fairly basic level, the perception that it is a hospital and provides urgent care services was fairly widespread, which is not the case.
“The Seeley-Swan Hospital District is not a hospital. We are a mission-driven board that oversees the facility and partners with Partnership Health Center, who provides primary care and other health services at the clinic,” Terryl Bartlett, hospital district board chair, said via email. “We heard loud and clear that there is confusion around the roles of the district and PHC. We will be working to clarify our roles in the community and to ensure people know the amazing services that are at their fingertips.”
The hospital district was created in 1973 by a resolution with the Missoula County Commissioners. Its purpose was to maintain and operate a public hospital district, which was deemed the Seeley Swan Medical Center, to provide primary care through nurse practitioners to the Seeley Lake community. Most providers are general practitioners staffing the center Monday through Friday and there are no emergency services. While designated as a primary care facility clinic, the medical center offers same-day appointments for urgent needs as well as wellness exams and vaccinations.
The survey sent out, to which 218 people responded, was meant to provide a better gist of what community members want from their medical center. Something like urgent care, which 46 people said would enhance their experience of care at the clinic, is complicated and expensive.
Eric Halverson, PHC director of communications, said via email that urgent care is not within the scope of Partnership’s operations at any of their clinics, including their largest facility located in Missoula.
Halverson said healthcare providers are operating in a shifting landscape and are watching both state and federal decision making to guide their work.
“Changes from the election are likely to create changes in healthcare, but nobody has a crystal ball and we’re not entirely sure what that will look like,” Halverson said. “Ultimately we are a mission-driven, nonprofit agency working to create access to high-quality healthcare for all people and our goal is to sustainably provide our core services in Seeley Lake.”
Suzanne Philippus-Palm, hospital district vice chair, broke the survey results into three categories. Respondents were looking for an “all-in” type of clinic — something that would have equipment to do various testing like ultrasounds and MRIs and have different types of doctors (pediatricians, OBGYNs) onsite consistently. There was a desire for an urgent care with expanded hours, and the third category was a clear lack of understanding from respondents of what services the Seeley Swan Medical Center does provide.
Philippus-Palm said in her three years on the board, she hasn’t seen a lot of marketing or advertisement from PHC on what is offered at the local facility. While the hospital district can recommend services to provide in Seeley Lake — what the survey was meant to shed greater light on, demand-wise — PHC ultimately determines what it’s capable of offering at the Seeley Swan Medical Center. If the board decided to pursue offering a service desired by the community that PHC couldn’t provide, it could consider finding those services elsewhere, but would have to come up with funding.
Halverson said there are opportunities available to make sure expectations are being set appropriately for Seeley Lake residents regarding the services the medical center offers through marketing and educational efforts.
The board agreed education is the most direct next step after going through the survey results. A longer term project to tackle is considering additional services for the clinic within the financial capabilities of PHC, like MRIs.
Bartlett said better communication on what the medical center provides would get rid of 10 or so negative responses from the survey.
It would be great to add an urgent care, Bartlett said, but advocated for looking at tangible, near-term options, like a traveling mammogram service — something requested in the survey responses — that people can schedule a few months out and be prepared for when it comes to town.
“The clinic is critical to the community and obviously if you read all of the comments there are some misconceptions about the clinic in terms of it being a hospital and possibly some unrealistic expectations for our community,” Bartlett said. “But that ultimately lies with us and in collaboration with PHC to get the word out to the public about what they can expect from the clinic.”
And getting the word out, Bartlett said, is something they can make happen.
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