The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

COLUMBIA COUNTY—When they met last week, the Columbia County Health System (CCHS) District Board of Commissioners signed off on medical privileges for physicians associated with Providence St. Mary’s Hospital in Walla Walla, for the purpose of providing telehospitalist services at Dayton General Hospital, during the hours of 7 p.m. - 7 a.m.

CEO Shane McGuire said that adding telehospitalist care at night will give Dayton General Hospital physicians some relief and rest from their duties, during those hours.

“It was becoming overwhelming for them,” he explained.

For instance, McGuire said weekend doctors working between those hours provide coverage 24/7 for all in-house patients as well as covering the Emergency Department.

“We had one doc who took another shift at Kadlec. He said it’s not worth it to come here and get no sleep. We wanted to prevent this type of exodus,” he said.

Also at last week’s meeting, McGuire discussed tentative plans to contract with an orthopedic surgeon group in Lewiston. He said patients undergoing physical therapy would benefit from those services.

He also touched on plans to provide dental care for Medicaid patients, and said he was given a construction estimate from Blue Room Architects for a dental clinic that is within budget.

Business plans will be developed for dental services, Adult Family Homes, Locked Memory Care, and a hyperbaric wound care program analysis, in that order, McGuire said.

McGuire said he met recently with officials from the Department of Social and Health Services, and others, to discuss Adult Family Homes, Assisted Living, and Memory Care program options.

Governor Jay Inslee recently visited with the University of Washington psychiatric team and McGuire said he was invited to sit in on that teleconference call. Columbia County Health System is partnering with the University of Washington in a study on the integrated behavior health model.

“The University of Washington has received state financial support for their programs and we are a model that they would like to see grow, even nationally,” he said.

McGuire said the month of June was the second highest gross revenue producing month for CCHS at $2.4 million. March of this year was the highest gross revenue producing month, he said.