I am late in voicing my support for the Sublette County Rural Health Care District Board and the critical access hospital but would like to state my opinion today. I don’t have the expertise to know the best way to make it a reality but I do know that the CAH is a very real necessity to maintain health care in Sublette County. The rural health care board, our doctors and staff have been working for years to provide a way for our county to obtain the CAH designation that will enable them to receive fair reimbursement for services rendered. Unless you understand billing and how the reimbursement is paid it does not seem so important.

Our emergency room facility and staff are well equipped and able to provide life-saving procedures every day … 24/7/365. Did you know that if you or a family member receives treatment, medications or procedures that save lives, the reimbursement comes back at the level of an office visit because it is not a “designated” hospital emergency room? Is it any big surprise that the RHCB is struggling with finances? Emergency supplies in the ER are dated and when the expiration date comes up they have to be replaced. The same is true with all the medications necessary to provide proper emergency care. This is part of the cost of doing business that is not recovered and therefore makes proper reimbursement so important.

I read with interest the letter from Betty Fear in last week’s issue of the Roundup and I think she was misinformed on the available after-hours care for the Marbleton/Big Piney area. There is an ambulance at the Marbleton EMS barn 24/7 that is staffed with an Advanced Life Support crew who is able to assess, treat and transport as needed. A paramedic is also on call 24/7 who responds to the initial ambulance call if it is determined necessary or to a call from the ALS crew at the scene. Another paramedic is called for backup when the first on-call person is out so that the 24/7 status is maintained. If the ambulance from the Marbleton EMS is called out an ALS-staffed ambulance is sent from Pinedale to cover that area while the first ambulance is out. To me this seems like extremely good medical service from a dedicated and competent staff.

I often wonder how long people wait for emergency services in a big city like Denver or even Casper? I wouldn’t be surprised if it was longer than 10 or 15 minutes. Seems to me that a longer response time in rural areas is one of the few disadvantages we have when we choose to live in this beautiful place called Sublette County.

My worry is that until the rural health care district is able to receive the proper reimbursement for services rendered, it will continue to struggle financially, no matter who is running the show. What will happen then? Will all after-hours and weekend services be curtailed? Will the Sublette County Commission Board step in to take charge? Who knows? I believe building the CAH is the right answer and I truly hope that we all can come together and make it happen.