Doctor joins Pomeroy Medical Clinic

POMEROY–Garfield County Hospital District (GCHD) co-CEO, Mat Slaybaugh, announced that a full-time doctor has been hired, Dr. Christopher Iacobelli M.D. during the regular board, March 2, 2020. Dr. Iacobelli has signed a four-year contract with the GCHD and will join the Pomeroy Medical Clinic staff on March 16, 2020. Dr. Iacobelli comes from Michigan originally, and most recently from Clarkston. His areas of special interest are Family Practice, Diagnostic Medicine, Thyroid disorders, Internal Medicine and Diabetes.

Dr. Iacobelli will be seeing patients Mondays through Thursdays at the clinic, with Dennis "Sonny" Talbot, PA-C continuing with appointments on Mondays. Talbot has just signed on for another six months. Rhonda Freeman, ARNP, will be retiring in May, according to co-CEO Jayd Keener. Recent provider hires for the Emergency Department, Josh Mayfield and Courtney Travis, will assist at the clinic if the need arises.

A decision was made during the February GCHD board meeting, to wait to start a contract with Allevant Solutions, LLC until May 1, 2020, after reviewing the outcome of the upcoming levy. The company will help the GCHD make the transition to a treatment destination for post-acute care and rehabilitation. At the last finance committee meeting in February, CFO Jim Heilsberg advised that every month they delay starting the contract, the hospital is losing money. He was in favor of signing the contract as soon as possible to get the process going.

Commissioner Jen Dixon remained hesitant, initiating the contract stating that to get a positive levy vote, they should not be asking for money when they are spending so much money. Slaybaugh claims to implement the contract would create more support for the levy by demonstrating action to solve the hospital's financial crisis.

Other board members agreed and reported that they had received positive feedback about the prospect of hiring Allevant from community members. A motion was made by Commissioner Chris Herres to sign and start the contract as soon as the attorneys have it ready, which should be about two months earlier than previously decided. Commissioner Cindy Wolf seconded the motion. Herres, Wolf, and Commissioner Mike Field voted in favor, Dixon abstained from the vote, and Commissioner Steve Cannon was not present. The motion carried and the decision was made to proceed with the contract as soon as possible.

GCHD co-CEO Jayd Keener reported that plans have been made to meet with members from the Garfield County Health District, Garfield County Fire District, and the Garfield County Sheriff's Office Dispatch Supervisor to discuss ways to work together to handle the current concerns regarding the coronavirus, and any cases that may arise. They want to be sure there is consistency in how things will be handled. Due to shortages of personal protection emergency supplies, such as masks worn by health service providers, the GCHD will be securing them in locking cabinets.

Many hospitals have reported being completely wiped out of these supplies by their own staff members. New signs will be posted at entrances to the hospital and clinic with criteria described for admission. People presenting with symptoms of the coronavirus may be told to return home and wait to be contacted by hospital staff, depending on the severity of the symptoms. Keener also stated that information from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) will be added to the GCHD website.

Martha Lanman, Garfield County Health District Administrator, added that Garfield County is still at low risk for exposure to the virus, and that test results are now coming back more quickly. The State labs are handling the tests, and are processing about 200 per day, for a wait time of about 24-48 hours.

Expenses for the GCHD this month included $4,500 to repair the air-conditioning unit serving the computer server room. New mattresses were purchased for the hospital. The long-awaited concrete ramp at the clinic will finally be installed in April.

The HVAC grant from the State Legislature awarded last year, has been delayed due to some contractual wording that needs to be clarified and approved. A quote was received on the installation of a larger fuel tank for the hospital generator, required by the State. The hospital has been working on meeting this requirement for about a year. The amount was estimated to be $148,000, which was agreed by the board to be excessive. Another contractor has been asked to make a bid as well. The hospital managers will be attending a conference in March, held in Spokane, but most of the expense will be paid by grant money.

The next meeting of the GCHD Board of Commissioners will be April 6, 2020, at 6 p.m. at the Pomeroy Senior Center, Main St.

Two Community Levy Forum meetings are planned for March 25, and April 1, 2020, at 7 p.m., at the Pomeroy Senior Center, to allow the public to ask questions about the upcoming levy vote April 28, 2020.