The Seeley Swan Medical Center will undergo schedule changes in the new year beginning Jan. 1.
Two medical doctors, Dr. Jesse Charles and Dr. Jackie Ordemann, who were available for in-person appointments in Seeley Lake prior to the change, will now be available for telehealth or in-person appointments at Missoula’s Partnership Health Center location. Partnership Health contracts with the Seeley-Swan Hospital District to offer services at the Seeley location.
Dr. Ordemann will remain available onsite in Seeley for OB care once a month. Other in-person providers will include Lynne Rogers, FNP-C, for primary medical care and Dr. Alyssa Harris, DMD, and Alex Pittman, Registered Dental Hygienist, for dental care.
In-person services will be offered Monday through Thursday, a change from the current Monday through Friday schedule.
The changes come after the Seeley-Swan Hospital District sent out a survey to Seeley-Swan area residents, asking people what they wanted from the medical center. Resounding themes were respondents weren’t certain what services the medical center offered, they wanted the medical center to host more hours and to offer more care time from medical doctors in Seeley.
The changes were announced by PHC in an opinion-editorial to the Pathfinder in last week’s paper, and in letters and text messages sent to patients of the medical center providers prior to the publication of the op-ed, according to Eric Halverson, director of communications for PHC.
Halverson said Partnership will continue to keep an eye on the community’s needs and its ability to deliver on its mission, which Halverson said is to make sure everyone in Missoula County has access to “high-quality, primary medical care and wrap-around services.” When asked whether the decision to change hours was due to staffing, funding or reduced use of services, Halverson said he couldn’t put a finger on it exactly, but that it was a “variety of variables.”
Seeley-Swan Hospital District Board Chair Terryl Bartlett said the decision was Partnership’s, not the board’s. When the survey went out, Bartlett said the board didn’t know hours would be reduced in the new year, but heard “rumblings” of the possibility.
“As a board we are hoping that with PHC’s decision that we can make the best of this situation for the community,” Bartlett said.
The Seeley-Swan Hospital District’s next board meeting is on Dec. 10 beginning at 5 p.m. at the medical center and via Teams. Provider availability and schedule changes will be on the agenda.
Reader Comments(0)