Voice your opinions on Carter County healthcare in new survey

Community members in Carter County may soon be receiving a survey form in their mailbox. This survey will be sent to a random sample of homes and will help Dahl Memorial Healthcare identify health services needed in the community. The information will be used for strategic planning, grant applications, new programs and by community groups interested in addressing health issues.

The Montana Office of Rural Health is assisting the hospital in an analysis of local community needs, use of local healthcare services and overall community health. This process was developed to maintain quality healthcare to serve the continuing and future needs of the community.

The community health assessment process promotes healthcare as a local affair. Citizens of rural counties can take responsibility for the health of their community by completing the survey they receive in their mailbox. Most communities face a large number of complex issues in addressing the health and wellness of their citizens, but fortunately, Carter County can engage in effective problem-solving, which is the most important factor in the survival of rural health services.

An accompanying goal of this process is to keep healthcare dollars within the local community. While the vast majority of healthcare can be provided locally, rural citizens often drive to large medical centers for care, spending money on healthcare and non-health care purchases that could be spent locally. It is estimated that within a typical rural community, millions of dollars of revenue is lost in this way. This revenue could be retained in the local community with stronger community-healthcare provider linkages.

Dahl Memorial Healthcare’s services include adult day care, ambulance services, clinic services, emergency room, health fair, inpatient admissions, outpatient/observation, laboratory, long term care (nursing home), meals on wheels, immunization/allergy shots, public health nurse, pharmacy, physical therapy, radiology (x-ray), school physicals, specialty consult (telemedicine) and women’s health.