Growing patient count pushing health service
In March and April, Community Health Center of the Black Hills treated 1,000 more patients than it did during the same period in 2008. It also saw a 3 percent increase in the number of Native American patients.
Likely repercussions of a struggling economy, the increases are not necessarily bad news for Community Health.
“It’s a good thing because that’s what we’re here for,” said chief executive Crystal Jordan.
But the increases have re-emphasized the need for more space at Community Health, Jordan said.
Community Health’s main clinic is at 504 E. Monroe St. Its administrative and dental offices are located across the street on N. La Crosse St. A Community Health clinic for pediatrics is located at 640 Flormann St. In those facilities, meeting rooms double as storage space, office desks crowd small rooms, and three rooms of medical records threaten to flow into a non-existent fourth room.
“We were already really cramped for space,” Jordon said.
Community Health has plans to buy the current Sam’s Club building on North La Crosse Street after that business moves. The new facility will house not only Community Health, but also will offer mental health services, a food bank and other services for the poor. Sam’s Club’s plans for the move, however, have been in a holding pattern. That leaves Community Health in crowded limbo.
Community Health treats about 12,000 patients each year. It accepts most insurance providers and subsidized providers and also provides care on a sliding scale for those who have no insurance. Homeless patients are provided free care.
Community Health employs two full-time and one part-time dentist, three full-time doctors, four part-time doctors and two full-time nurse practitioners. The clinic is recruiting a full-time dentist and full-time nurse practitioner to staff its new school-based clinic at General Beadle Community School, which will open in July.
Community Health operates a $6 million annual budget, paid for with federal money, funds from the South Dakota Department of Health and money from Pennington County and the city of Rapid City. It has also received stimulus money for the existing clinics and for the new General Beadle clinic.
Community Health was started in the 1980s with the intention of serving the uninsured in Rapid City, said Community Health board chairman Roy Dishman. The fact that such dramatic growth occurred in two months seems to indicate that more people are in that predicament, he said.
Jordon agrees that the economy is the most obvious factor in this scenario. “When I speak to people, … it’s a lot of people moving to Rapid City,” she said. Many of those have recently lost their job elsewhere and are looking for work in the Black Hills. “With the economy, everything is so up in the air.”
Community Health is meeting the increased patient load by changing its appointment scheduling, Jordon said. So far, it hasn’t had to add hours or hire new employees, but the space issue is not going away any time soon. And if the increased patient load continues, the space needs will only increase as well.
“We have to move. We don’t have an option in that,” Dishman said.
Contact Lynn Taylor Rick at lynn.taylorrick@rapidcityjournal.com or 394-8414.