A small town, Boulder certainly does not have all the frills of bigger cities. But thanks to the hard work of several dedicated people, the town does have one vital service – a health clinic.
About six years ago, the future of that service was far from secure. After close to twenty years of operation, the Boulder Medical Clinic was on slippery ground.
Started under the guidance of a family medical practice in Helena with a stable supply of doctors who shared the responsibilities and had a vested interest, the clinic saw its management change. Over time the management changed more than once, and eventually the clinic and then-managing St. Peter’s in Helena reached a mutual agreement to part ways.
That set the clinic adrift on a journey that took time to resolve.
For about a year Physician Assistant Lori Lagerquist served the clinic one day a week to keep the rural status of the facility alive.
“Lori played a huge part in keeping the clinic open,” said Josh Morris last week. A member of the all-volunteer clinic board, Morris said Dr. Robert Shephard of Helena was also very instrumental in keeping the clinic afloat.
Shephard and partners had started the clinic when the citizens of Boulder formed Elkhorn Community Health Services, a non-profit that owned and still owns the clinic building. When that group of doctors sold their practice, and it resold, it eventually wound up with St. Peter’s.
When the partnership between the clinic and St. Peter’s ended, Shephard stepped back in to help. “He was key in keeping the clinic open as well,” said Morris.
Without Lagerquist and Shephard, Boulder would almost certainly be without a clinic now, he said.
But they were not the only ones who contributed to keep the clinic. Drew Dawson, a Boulder native and an emergency medical professional in Washington, D.C., helped with making sure the clinic followed regulations and finances, said Morris. And the clinic board took on extra duties.
Originally scheduled to meet only once a quarter, the board was meeting at least monthly. Board members Kathy Rux, Shirley Vossler, John Heide – three of the original board members – plus Morris, Kim Franchi, Carmen Craft, Christina Binkowski, and Jake Combs took over all of the management tasks: hiring and supervising staff, billing clients, purchasing supplies and more.
“We’re not professionals and we’re managing a clinic,” said Morris of the situation the volunteer board found themselves in.
Morris, a pharmacist, said he and the board turned to St. James in Butte to find a solution.
Kevin Dennehy, a VP at St. James, said Morris contacted him around the middle of 2014. It has always been a philosophy of St. James and parent company SCL Health that it is good to “get health care close to home,” he said. With that in mind, he and others at St. James began trying to help the Boulder Medical Clinic.
“We knew there was a need there in the community,” said Dennehy.
In August 2014, St. James took over management, hiring the front desk, physician assistant and RN staff as St. James employees, handling billing and all the other tasks that had fallen to the board. They tried expanding the clinic hours to four days a week, but found it was underutilized and not financially feasible.
Under the stewardship of St. James, the clinic was able to stabilize at three days a week and even add physical therapy services two days a week.
“I think it’s good for us and for the City of Boulder,” said Dennehy, adding that thirty-plus mile trips for wintertime medical care are not often easy for Boulder patients.
“The fact that we can keep it local is great,” said Dennehy.
Morris said the partnership with St. James also enables Boulder to take advantage of other services, such as life flight helicopter service. And while Boulder is not big enough to have its own cardiology services and many other specialties, the ties to the assets of St. James helps Boulder patients get access to those needed services.
SCL Health has three hospitals in Montana (in Butte, Billings and Miles City) and six others in nearby states, widening options for Boulder patients.
“We know there’s room for improvement here with health care services,” said Morris. But the community’s medical care is far more stable than it was six years ago, he added.
“It’s in much better shape than it was. It’s open, it’s steady, and there’s a lot more consistency,” said Morris.
“We couldn’t do it without St. James,” he added.
