The Basin Clinic held a board meeting March 20 with commissioners of Montrose County in attendance. The meeting began with an open discussion of the recent challenges the clinic has faced.
Commissioner Sue Hansen in the meeting said she was hoping to see some financials and inquired about a plan, the state of the clinic and patient counts and services.
Basin Clinic is averaging 16 to 18 patients daily. Two weeks ago, 21 patients were seen in one day. Some are calling for same-day appointments, and it’s getting more difficult for the clinic to accommodate those. If the clinic had two full-time providers, it could potentially see as many as 30 patients per day.
The clinic is unique in that it sees emergencies. Whether the clinic treats an emergency, or transports the patient, urgent situations do disrupt the flow of the schedule. Still, provider Mary Kus said most people are understanding.
Some days do entail as many as two or three ambulance patients. By law, Basin Clinic is required to see emergencies during operating hours. Some come with cardiac issues; others have fractures. Dr. April Randle, the medical director, has seen some patients reluctantly come in with open wounds containing maggots. Randle agreed the emergencies were serious at Basin Clinic. She added that some are in denial of diabetes or mental health issues too.
Hansen asked for a breakdown of disease statistics. Executive Director Christina Pierce said she had a grant coming that would support that data analysis. The $45,000 is coming from the Community Foundation of the Gunnison Valley and the state’s Department of Local Affairs. It will also support education for staff and the board, and strategic planning.
Pierce also applied for diversity, justice, equity and inclusion grant of up to $75,000 last Friday. While that would help with addressing the demographic and its needs, it doesn’t support operations. In fact, most grants can’t be awarded for operations, Pierce said.
Hansen asked clinic representatives about opioid abuse and mental health. Kus agreed it’s an issue in the West End. Hansen said there’s money available from the Southwest Colorado Opioid Regional Council, and she’d like to see the Basin Clinic get some of that funding. She said it could help rebuild the clinic.
Tri-County Health Network has a patient navigator working for the clinic. That position is also funded through a grant. Indeed, the clinic seemed to have some solid plans in place.
However, clinic representatives revealed they only had reserves to last about six more months of operations — due to rising costs of care and decreasing revenue and reimbursements.
Hansen said the clinic board needs to work with the towns of Naturita and Nucla to include Basin Clinic in its master planning process. Although, county commissioners then agreed fund Basin Clinic $75,000 — and possibly more after some further discussion.
“We are sensitive to your situation,” Hansen said. “We wanted to get an update and see where it’s going and what the plan was.”
Randi Latham, representative of Tri-County Health Network, said she was worried about the implications of the clinic shutting down. She said the costs of emergency room visits and transportation, including helicopter rides, to get to other facilities would be far greater than the costs to fund the Basin Clinic.
Additionally, the clinic board shared that UMC rejected the idea of working with Basin Clinic. Nichole Long, of UMC, had shared the Norwood clinic couldn’t handle an influx of patients.
Moreover, Pierce is working as many as 80 hours weekly without overtime pay. No raises have been awarded at Basin Clinic in four years.
Hansen explained to the board that the public health safety tax, which many have been discussing, can be used to fund the clinic, but that’s not mandated. The Montrose County Sheriff’s department does claim the majority of that tax. Clinic funding is one option for the funds.
By the weekend, though, commissioners did inform the Basin Clinic board it would release the $250,000 this year it had budgeted for back in December.
