GLACIER COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER, INC.
Grant: $336,625 - Health Resources and Services Administration - Jun. 25, 2009
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Award Description: Glacier Community Health Center is committed to maintaining safety and productivity. The CIP will provide improvements for our medical and dental clinics as well as our administrative and parking areas. Located in a frontier area of north central Montana, GCHC brings in a variety of patients with an even greater variety of needs: illness, broken bones, wellness checks, removal of lesions, joint pain, heart issues, diabetes, and the list goes on. Our providers have to be prepared for anything with appropriate equipment available to them. Therefore, GCHC will purchase updated equipment for both the dental and the medical sides of the clinic. Our dental clinic, opened in January 2009, will become fully digitized with funds from this program, including a new panogram and three extra operatories to meet capacity. Even without excessive advertising, GCHC has seen an increase in the number of appointments for both sliding fee and Medicaid patients. Our administrative offices is focused on creating a safer work area for GCHC’s administrative staff. The shell will be remodeled into offices for administration employees, bringing them up from their basement offices and out of its poor air circulation. This renovation will improve the effectiveness of administration’s interface with the clinical delivery teams by having all GCHC staff on one facility level. Repair to the front parking area will provide direct access to the clinic. This is a direct response to a need voiced by patients; parking space is at a premium. With our increased demand at the clinic, it will be useful to have all the staff park away from the main entrance, leaving those spaces for the patients.
Project Description: Glacier CHC’s two projects with the CIP grant are underway. Renovations have begun to our previously built, 1200-square foot shell at the back of the clinic. Five administrative offices have been created along with sufficient storage capacity for supplies and equipment. Data was wired in for easy access to the GCHC network as well as the clinic’s telephone system. The parking area was resurfaced and a section of grass will be converted into parking spaces. This additional space and the resurfacing provides at least twenty new parking spaces for our growing staff, making room for our growing number of patients to be able to park closer to the main entrance. A total of eighteen people worked on the renovation in the last three months – construction workers, electricians, painters, plumbers, communication specialists, carpet layers, gas company representatives, and concrete workers. The second project combines the purchase of equipment for both our medical clinic as well as our dental clinic. Much of the medical equipment has been ordered and has arrived. Nurses and providers were trained on some of the equipment, particularly the new EKG machine. The dental office has begun the process of becoming totally digital, complete with digital panogram. An operatory water/air/gas distribution system was installed in this quarter.
Infrastructure Description: This investment of the federal government will provide Glacier Community Health Center with further capabilities for safety, quality care, and assistance to local workers. An expanded and enhanced equipment base will assist providers when giving patients quality care and provide them a level of confidence that the right equipment is available for the right problem. The renovation project gives GCHC the assurance of safety for its administration staff offices as well as all staff and patients in the resurfaced and expanded parking lot. This project also provides the local workforce with jobs during the renovation.
Jobs Summary: The renovation side of the project gave eighteen construction/service workers a job to do in the last three months. We had construction workers, plumbers, electricians, furnace installers, carpet layers, concrete/parking lot workers, painters, communication specialists, and decorators in and out of the clinic. Everyone who worked here thanked us for the opportunity since their businesses have slowed down. We also purchased furnishings through a local establishment and the medical and dental equipment orders gave those two salesmen good business. New Jobs Created Construction: 3.5 FTEs Health Center Patient Support Staff: 0 FTEs Jobs Retained Health Center IT Staff: 0 FTE (Total jobs reported: 18)
Project Status: Less Than 50% Completed
This award's data was last updated on Jun. 25, 2009. Help expand these official descriptions using the wiki below.
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