Dr. Carletta Collins

Powell Valley Healthcare is pursuing an action plan based on the 2019 Community Health Needs Assessment, which was completed in December.

At the PVHC Board of Trustees meeting last month, Jim Cannon, Powell Valley Healthcare community relations and marketing director, provided an update on the action plan for the board.

The assessment was based on surveys of 466 individuals in Park County and identified mental health and substance abuse as the top health concerns. Combined with county health needs data, five areas of significant health needs were also identified: accessibility and affordability, suicide and mental health, unintentional injury and substance abuse, obesity and physical inactivity, and cancer.

The assessment is done every three years, and in previous years, the various medical providers in the county performed their own assessments. However, this past September, PVHC, Cody Regional Health, Healthy Park County, Heritage Health Center and Park County Public Health formed a coalition to conduct the assessment and come up with action plans to address what it found.

On the affordability issue, MRI prices were identified as a major concern. PVHC decreased its prices on most MRI exams last year and reduced the number of different exam prices from 60 to 14. In  November, an MRI pricing committee met again to continue researching ways to reduce the costs of the exam.

To address the needs of mental health and suicide, PVHC recruited Nancy Wolf, psychiatric mental health nurse practioner. She began seeing patients in October.

To address obesity, the hospital hosted a Healthy U lunch and learn in December, and PVHC offered a free, six-week Healthy U program. Eight people participated in the program from January to February.

The hospital also started free fitness classes for PVHC employees and members of the community, which began last month. These are 20 to 30 minute sessions every Wednesday evening. PVHC also set up discounted memberships to Club Dauntless for its employees.

To address cancer, the hospital recruited Dr. Carletta Collins, oncologist and hematologist. She began seeing patients in March, and under her leadership, the hospital is setting up a chemotherapy program.

Healthy Park County is setting up efforts to raise awareness of unintentional injury and substance abuse, and PVHC is assisting with that community educational effort.

After the meeting, Cannon said PVHC continues to update the action plan and respond to the priorities identified in the CNHA. The assessment will be completed again in 2022.