Powell Valley Healthcare is taking another step toward finalizing an affiliation with the Billings Clinic. Though it could be another year before the agreement is complete, both providers are reviewing documents that will define the relationship.

PVHC is also pursuing other improvements, including a new, more private registration process in the emergency department and the opening of its retail pharmacy.

Last November, the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to pursue an affiliation with Billings Clinic, the Montana healthcare provider. The vote provided something official to show PVHC and its board were serious about the potential for a relationship before embarking on the process, which requires a great deal of effort and resources on the part of both entities.

The board now has the preliminary documents that layout in greater detail how the relationship will work. The board and PVHC leadership is in the process of doing their due diligence and deciding how to bring the partnership to fruition.

“We’re going to need to scrutinize the documents to make sure this will go how you as a board want it to go,” said PVHC Trustee RJ Kost at the board’s meeting last month.

The organization will now form committees of stakeholders to consider the agreements and work out any concerns with Billings Clinic.

“Nothing is definite at this point, but it’s likely it will work into a partnership of some kind,” Kost said, speaking after the meeting.

The affiliation will provide added support to PVHC, which is a critical access hospital. These are typically healthcare providers serving rural communities, and they are closing at alarming rates due to financial difficulties. If the affiliation with Billings Clinic goes through, the two entities will share some professional services, such as for oncology and cardiology, which will allow for improved and expanded services at PVHC.

PVHC began looking into affiliations with Billings healthcare providers after it separated from its longtime management company, Healthtech Management Services, in June 2017. Healthtech provides consulting and management services for smaller hospitals, but an affiliation with Billings Clinic could provide a much broader partnership of services.

“We want the best for the community,” Kost said at last month’s meeting.

Improvements underway

In other improvements, the emergency department is starting a new registration process that will be more private for patients. Upon entry to the ED, the registration staff will get only the patient’s name, date of birth and why they’re at the hospital. The patient will then be triaged and taken back to a separate room to complete the remainder of the registration process.

June Minchow, director of emergency and critical care services at PVHC, said the process will allow for faster treatment and will help ensure the ED is following federal regulations, which require all patients to have the same level of care without consideration of ability to pay.

The department is undergoing a $2 million renovation that will provide extensive improvements in privacy and security.

The hospital is also close to opening its retail pharmacy.

PVHC spokesman Jim Cannon said they don’t have a precise date yet, but it’s close. The organization received health department approval, and now it just needs to get its point of sale system up and running.

“As long as that goes without any hiccups, we should be open next week,” said Steven Hultgren, pharmacist with PVHC.

The pharmacy will have a USP 800 compliant room for the handling of hazardous drugs. These are drugs that, for example, can be carcinogenic or be harmful to pregnancies. The hospital looked at implementing change orders to the pharmacy project for the compliance work, but the bids came in more than $45,000 over budget.

Plan One/Architects, which is providing consulting and design services for the emergency department renovations, suggested PVHC include the change order as part of the emergency department renovation project. This will make it part of a larger project and attract more bidders, resulting in a more competitive process.

“We’ll have larger construction companies, and economies of scale can come into play,” said PVHC CEO Terry Odom.