If you’ve ever traveled along I-80 or U.S. 93 through Nevada, you’ve probably driven through Wells, a town of 1,251 people. That was the experience of Doc Smith, who got stuck in Wells during a winter storm in 1980. When the town’s residents learned he was a doctor, they convinced him to stay in Wells and open a practice. Doc served the town for 30 years until he retired in 2011. Since then, town leaders have been looking for a healthcare provider. Without an in-town doctor, residents have to travel one hour to Elko for limited services or more than two hours to Salt Lake City. Doctors have come to Wells over the years, but the care hasn’t been sustainable — until Intermountain Health came to town with a unique approach to hybrid care.
About 13% of people living with HIV (PLHIV) don’t know they have it and need testing. Early detection is essential because it reduces transmission and improves patients' lives by placing them on antiretroviral therapy (ART), which allows them to live healthier lives and significantly lowers the risk of spreading the virus. Testing is vital. Yet Utah has consistently ranked last out of all 50 states for HIV testing rates — until recently. A group of caregivers decided to improve HIV testing rates in Utah to support some of our most vulnerable communities. Intermountain Health has now expanded support for PLHIV in ways we couldn’t have imagined a few years ago.
Rony Quintana, Nevada nurse practitioner, is part of a unique group. She is one of two providers (and two medical assistants) treating patients in their homes as part of Nevada’s mobile urgent care team, the only one of its kind across the enterprise. Rony and her fellow caregivers take calls specifically from seven Las Vegas senior primary care clinics, treating a variety of conditions. Patients have same day appointments; they call their primary care office based on symptoms they’re experiencing, and those calls are routed to Rony's team if those patients cannot visit a clinic but need to see a provider in-person. Cases range from mild symptoms to more serious needs like congestive heart failure and COPD. Since the team started two years ago, Nevada’s mobile urgent care team has reduced hospital utilization rates by 20% in at least one of the clinics they serve and reduced the ambulance rate by 6%. They’ve also added more supplies and a lab license to be more self-sufficient in running patient tests onsite instead of traveling back and forth to a clinic. Moreover, the team hopes to expand their services and team in southern Nevada.
It's Healthcare Quality Week! Let's recognize the dedication and hard work of healthcare professionals who strive to improve patient care and outcomes every day. Your commitment to excellence ensures that we all receive the highest quality of care!
Our strategic priority of children's health in Nevada is now closer to reality than ever before. On October 22, Intermountain Health, alongside elected officials and community leaders, unveiled a sign at UNLV’s Harry Reid Research and Technology Park that reads, "The future site of Nevada’s first stand-alone children’s hospital.” “Bringing comprehensive, subspecialty care for children close to home will meet a critical need in Nevada, improve access, and have a meaningful impact on young lives and families,” said Mitch Cloward, Desert Region president. “This is the first step in strengthening our partnership with the community to bring this long-needed, stand-alone children’s hospital to Las Vegas. We look forward to growing our pediatric services and extending our mission and Intermountain’s purpose to more caregivers and patients.”
Happy National Massage Therapy Awareness Week! From relieving stress and pain to promoting overall well-being, massage therapists play a vital role in enhancing patient care. Thank you for your healing touch and dedication!
After a rare head and neck cancer left an uninsured patient without an eye and with a hole in his face, Melissa Friesen, an Oncology social worker at Saint Joseph Hospital Cancer Centers of Colorado in Denver, dedicated her time to finding him a facial prosthetic and a prosthetic eye at no cost to him.
Happy Medical Assistant Recognition Week! Let's celebrate the amazing medical assistants who play a crucial role in our healthcare system. Your hard work, compassion, and dedication make a significant impact on patient care every day!
Josh Penman has lived in Sevier Valley in Utah for close to 15 years now. “I am from Circleville, in Piute County,” said Josh. “I love small towns. We live in Annabella now, right down the street from my wife’s parents. We have three boys, and one girl and love living in an environment where your kids can play in the street, and you all know your neighbors.” Before becoming a nurse practitioner, Josh and his wife experienced the most tragic event a young parent could go through. “I would have had four boys, but my second son passed away,” said Josh. “He was born a healthy boy as far as we knew. We brought him home, when about two days later he wasn’t feeding well. He ended up passing away a day later. The best that could be determined was our son had a hole in his intestine from a very rare bacteria.” At that time, Josh had been working as a furniture salesman, something he described as a dead-end job. “As I watched how people in healthcare really cared about us, helped us, supported us, in an extremely difficult time when our son passed, I knew I wanted to be the same kind of help to others,” said Josh. He and his wife decided to go back to school at the same time to get their degrees in healthcare; his wife becoming an RN, Josh becoming an RN, and then recently becoming a nurse practitioner for Sevier Valley Hospital Urology.
It's Spiritual Care Week! This week, we recognize the invaluable contributions of spiritual care providers in healthcare. Your compassion, support, and guidance bring comfort and hope to patients and their families.
