New Polson Health facility opens
Melea Burke/Valley Journal
Serena Clary visits with a patient from her spot behind the front desk at Polson Health, Kalispell Regional Healthcare’s new clinic on Polson Hill.
Melea Burke/Valley Journal
A Native American-inspired sculpture greets patients at Polson Health, where local artists’ work adds a personal touch to the decor.
Melea Burke/Valley Journal
Kalispell Regional’s newly expanded Polson Health clinic
Melea Burke/Valley Journal
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
Locals used to driving outside of Lake County for medical care soon may see an end to at least some of their travels, thanks to expanded operations at Kalispell Regional’s Polson Health clinic.
The Kalispell healthcare network’s satellite clinic has seen myriad changes this year, most noticeably moving from its much smaller location by St. Joe’s to a brand-new 13,000-square-foot facility at a prominent Polson Hill site next to the Mission Valley Aquatic Center. Polson Health has been operating at 106 Ridgewater Drive since February, and construction of the remaining 11,000-square-foot procedure side, which will offer same-day surgical procedures using local anesthetic, is expected to wrap up in June, according to practice manager Robyn Lane.
“We’re kind of busting at the seams with our practice,” Lane said. “Everybody was crowded.”
Cramped working quarters are a thing of the past for family practice physician Dan Rausch, chiropractor Tom Konen, nurse practitioner Alexandra Flerchinger and their staff. Instead of having to share offices, each provider works in a pod with his or her own office and three exam rooms. Six pods surround the central nurses station, offering ample workspace for the staff and visiting specialists who have been stacking up on the clinic’s schedule. Twenty Kalispell-based physicians with concentrations in cardiology, gastroenterology, neurology, urology, pulmonology, orthopedics, endocrinology, nephrology, plastic surgery, pain management, diabetes and physical medicine and rehab are already scheduled for office hours in the coming weeks, and Lane said the expansion won’t stop there.
“My goal is to make sure every pod is full by the end of the year with specialists that aren’t currently offered (in Lake County),” Lane said. “Everybody’s begging for a dermatologist, so we’re looking for one.”
Each specialist’s hours vary according to Lake County’s demand for their services and the doctor’s availability, so Lane recommends dropping by the clinic for a schedule of upcoming visits. A cardiologist is on site every Wednesday, and a pulmonologist comes every two months, Lane added. Among the visiting specialists “coming soon” is a pediatric gastroenterologist, who will be the first to practice in the area.
“It’s unheard of in Western Montana,” Lane said. “Now (patients) are having to drive to Spokane or Billings.”
The full-time staff is set to grow even more with a third family practice physician from Langley, Virginia, due to join the team in late fall, and Lane is on the hunt for a fourth. Since the move, the clinic also has added a couple of new office staff and nurses and will be hiring five more people for the procedure side, she said.
With two rooms outfitted with cutting-edge technology for performing any number of surgical procedures, residents won’t have to travel out of the area for less intensive procedures such as a colonoscopy.
“Say you have to have a colonoscopy and you have to drink that horrible stuff and then drive an hour (home to Polson),” Lane explained. “We’re going to put an end to that.”
And Kalispell Regional’s long-term vision for Polson Health is even more expansive: to be a model for rural healthcare in America, Lane explained. The clinic’s growth is meant “to add to services that are already here, not to compete with them,” she added. “The specialists really want to be here.”
In keeping with a focus on rural healthcare, designer Jan Bloom chose decor representative of Montana and the Flathead Reservation, incorporating local art and photography throughout the facility.
“She did a wonderful job capturing the local area in all the artwork,” Lane noted.
The building celebrates the area in its own way, offering sweeping views of the Missions through towering panes of glass that envelope the spacious waiting rooms, both on the clinic and procedure sides of the practice.
