 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
From Private Practice to Public Health UNION — The Union Family Health Center is adding more key services, as a doctor from La Grande gets set to join the staff full time. Family practitioner Kim Montee is giving up his private practice in favor of public health work. He's been working a couple of days a week at the Union clinic this month, and comes aboard full time Feb. 1. Montee said his new job gives him a chance to practice medicine as a calling, rather than as a business. "I've been a private practice doc, but it's not where my heart lies," he said. At Eastern Montana College (now Montana State University), he majored in math with a minor in computer programming. After college, he worked six years as a computer programmer, including a stint with the Kenai Peninsula Borough in Alaska. There, he and his wife, Annette, were friendly with an emergency room doctor. The friendship rekindled Montee's dream to someday become a doctor himself. "I started visiting when she was on duty. I found I really liked what I saw, so I started picking up pre-med science classes," he said. By 1993, he was enrolled in medical school at Oregon Health & Science University. He graduated in 1997, then started his medical career in Klamath Falls. He did his residency there and worked at a non-profit, family-based clinic much like the one in Union. In medical school and during his residency, Montee knew La Grande physician Michael McQueen. McQueen, as it turned out, had much to do with Montee's decision to move to La Grande. "I was looking for a smaller setting. He talked me into coming and looking at the area, and I liked it," Montee said. Montee set up practice in the medical complex on Sunset Drive adjacent to Grande Ronde Hospital, and has been there since. The practice has thrived, but the business end takes up time he'd rather spend doctoring. So last summer, he opened discussions with the South County Health District about coming to work at the Union clinic. "It's a chance to change my focus from the bottom line to truly patient care, which is what I'm interested in," he said. Montee said that when he completes the move from Sunset Drive to Union, computers containing his patients' records will come with him. His patients may choose to continue with him at Union. "I hope everybody will be able to come here," he said. Montee already works as the medical director for the Elgin Family Clinic, and he said that assignment dovetails nicely with his job at Union. "It's my hope that sometime in the future we can share resources," he said. The FQHC designation would bring federal grants for improving health services in rural communities. NEON, a local non-profit health collaborative, has already received a grant to research and develop an FQHC proposal. "We don't know yet what it would look like, but it would somehow integrate services," Montee said. He said the FQHC designation might result in mobile dental and medical clinics, mobile telemedicine or other services. "Clinics that could take advantage of this would include Joseph, Enterprise, Elgin, Union, Baker and Halfway," Montee said. Local community activists worked to form the South County Health District after Oregon Health & Science University decided it would no longer operate the Union Family Health Center. The non-profit district officially came into being last May, following a vote of approval by people living in the Union, Cove and North Powder school districts. Since assuming responsibility for the center in July, the district has survived mainly on patient revenues, some bank financing and donations from the community. Despite financial challenges, the center has forged ahead with expansion plans. In December, it opened a dental clinic staffed by North Powder dentist Joel Bender. For additional financial support, the board likely will present a tax levy proposal to voters later this year. But in the meantime, the hiring of a full time staff doctor, closely following the opening of the dental clinic, should help the district meet its established goals. "It will help a lot," said Sue Peeples, the clinic's nurse practitioner. "Having a doctor on staff will enhance patient care, and improve our revenue stream."
Grants should help improve health accessGrants should help improve Access to health insurance and affordable basic health care is a challenge for many in Northeast Oregon, even during good times. In the midst of a recession, the challenge becomes all the greater. That's why it's good news that Northeast Oregon Network has received a solid grant foundation to continue its operation. The network, formed in 2004, is dedicated to helping Union, Wallowa and Baker County residents get better access to health care. Recently, the network received three grants totaling more than $600,000. The grants will help the organization continue to improve health care access across the region. Two of the grants came from the federal government. The third came from The Regence Foundation. Taken together, the grants put wind in the sails of NEON and its mission to connect struggling people to health care providers and make sure no one is falling through the cracks. When 15 percent of the population is uninsured, and the jobless rate hovers above 10 percent, health care access becomes ever more critical. Now it is cold and flu season. With the swine flu outbreak in the headlines, sometimes a little too close to home for comfort, getting to a doctor for some segments of the population can be a life or death matter. The grants should help. NEON says the grants will help it create jobs locally as well as make the communities it serves healthier. Among the beneficiaries is NEON's Covering Kids and Families Eastern Oregon Program, which connects families with a primary care medical home. Having access to affordable health care close to home is crucial for the overall livability of the region. Having a family doctor may be something many of us take for granted. Not having one in a health crisis can be devastating. Not having a good doctor to coordinate health care and make referrals to specialists can lead to more trips to the emergency rooms and more costs for everybody. Congratulations go out to NEON for landing these grants and using them to further its mission. Healthcare Group Receives $600,000 Northeast Oregon Network, a health collaborative serving Baker, Union and Wallowa counties, has been awarded three grants totaling more than $600,000 to improve healthcare access in the region. Two grants are from the federal government and the third is from The Regence Foundation, the corporate philanthropic foundation of Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon. "We know the effects of the recession have been acutely felt here in rural Eastern Oregon, and it's more difficult than ever for many to find health care," said Miriam Lederer Farnam, NEON executive director. "As an organization, we're grateful for these grants to enable us to grow and create jobs locally, and at the same time connect our community with needed healthcare resources." Farnam said the grant money will be used to increase access to integrated health care for children and families in the three counties. The largest of the three grants comes from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which awarded NEON $465,000 over the next two years under the Children's Health Improvement Reauthorization Act. The Medicare/Medicaid grant is earmarked for NEON's "Covering Kids and Families Eastern Oregon" program, which connects uninsured individuals and families to health coverage. Farnam said the money will allow NEON to expand the program to increase enrollment of rural children in insurance plans. The second grant is from the Health Resources and Services Administration, which awarded NEON $80,000 to conduct a tri-county health needs assessment, as part of a one-year planning process for attaining Federally-Qualified Health Center status, and to apply for designation as a regional Health Provider Shortage Area. That designation would ultimately provide additional resources to the three counties to help overcome deficiencies in access to healthcare services, according to a statement from NEON announcing the grant awards. The Regence Foundation awarded NEON $65,000 to extend the reach of its Covering Kids and Families Eastern Oregon program by helping enrollees find primary care providers once they have health coverage. Currently, up to half of all new enrollees do not have a doctor. Farnam said the Regence Foundation grant will allow outreach specialists to help their clients apply and become enrolled in health coverage. It will also help facilitate an ongoing, patient-centered relationship with a physician suitable for their needs. "The Regence Foundation believes that access to quality, affordable health care close to home is the cornerstone of a healthy community," said Michael Alexander, Regence Foundation board chairman. In the tri-county area served by NEON, at least 15 percent of the population is uninsured and the unemployment rate is hovering between 10 and 15 percent, which Alexander said makes the work of a healthcare collaborative like NEON critical.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Northeast Oregon Network awards $3,000 to support local health activities Union County Fit Kids (U.C. Fit Kids), Walking School-Bus Campaign – La Grande, OR Building Healthy Families, Well Baby Bags Project – Enterprise, OR Baker County Health Department (BCHD), Dental Varnish Program – Baker City, OR "The purpose of NEON is to strengthen the rural healthcare system in Union, Wallowa, and Baker Counties," says Farnam. "One way we do this is by reinforcing the resources we have available within our communities, as well as effectively bringing our region's strengths and needs to the attention of those outside the area." The grants were awarded through Northeast Oregon Network (NEON), and made possible by the Federal Health Resources and Services Administration. For more information about NEON, please contact Miriam at (541) 624-5102.
|
|---|
Northeast Oregon Network (NEON) announced today it awarded $3,000 to support local health activities in Union, Wallowa, and Baker Counties. The purpose of this funding is to support health promotion and education activities administered through local efforts with the hope of strengthening the sustainability of those projects for future years. "Our region has created so many innovative and resourceful projects to improve the health of our community. We feel we have an opportunity and an obligation to support each other in continuing that," said Miriam Farnam, NEON Executive Director. "That's why NEON wants to help sustain local initiatives that are really tailored to meet the specific needs of our community."