Dahl Memorial Healthcare provides update

submitted by Dahl Memorial Healthcare staff

November marked the one-year anniversary of the opening of the new healthcare facility in Carter County.

Dahl Memorial opened its doors on November 11, 2021, after a 3-day move-in period. The first few weeks were a little challenging, but staff adapted to the new environment rather quickly. Over the last year Dahl has added a handful of new jobs and has grown exponentially. DMHA has increased its patient load and days continue to be quite busy at the new facility.

In June 2022, Dahl Memorial lost a great PA with Dale Diede's retirement. Colleagues were sad to see him leave, and his presence is still greatly missed. However, the hospital has recently gained three new providers and is excited to introduce Carrie Haar, Dede Anders, and Sierra Zimmer.

NEW PROVIDERS

Carrie Haar, APRN, FNP-C

Haar is a Family Nurse Practitioner with experience in emergency medicine, internal medicine, geriatrics, pediatrics and family practice. She attended the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota, where she earned her FNP. Haar began her career in the medical field as an EMT at the age of 16. She was a critical care ICU and ER nurse and has worked in both large and rural hospitals throughout her career. She grew up in a rural community in Western North Dakota and loves rural medicine.

Diana "Dede" Anders, MPAS, PA-C

Anders has been a PA for 14+ years. She has worked in Emergency Departments, Family Practice, Surgery and Neurosurgery. Before becoming a PA, she was an emergency department RN and Medic in the Army. Currently, she is studying for Doctor of Medical Science, with an emphasis in Emergency Medicine.

Sierra Zimmer MPAS, PA-C

Zimmer is a graduate of the University of New Mexico Physician Assistant Program and recently completed the UNM Hospital Emergency Medicine Residency in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She attended MSU Bozeman where she obtained her undergraduate in Cell Biology and Neuroscience in 2011 after graduating from Helena High School in 2007. She is NCCPA certified and is a member of AAPA, MAPA and SEMPA. Zimmer grew up in Montana and is excited to return home and practice critical access hospital medicine in the Ekalaka community with the wonderful DMHA team.

PROVIDERS YOU LIKELY ALREADY KNOW

Alex Lovec, APRN, FNP-C

Lovec was born and raised in Ekalaka. She was an RN for nearly 10 years before graduating from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. in 2018 as a Family Nurse Practitioner. Before becoming a full-time provider at Dahl, Lovec worked 1.5 years in family practice at a community health center in Miles City.

Carla Dowdy, MPAS, PA-C

Dowdy has been a PA-C for 18+ years. She graduated from AT Still University in Mesa, Arizona and practiced in emergency medicine for 14 years before moving to Ekalaka. She became the Chief Medical Officer in February 2022 at DMHA and has been working with other administrative leaders at Dahl to improve patient care and services. She is currently pursuing her Doctor of Health Science with an emphasis in organizational leadership.

PHYSICAL THERAPY SERVICES AVAILABLE

Dahl Memorial also recently announced that Brian Lucey joined the team as a physical therapist. Lucey started working at Dahl on February 6th. This was a long-awaited service that staff is very excited to bring to the community.

Brian Lucey, PT, DPT

Lucey has been a traveling physical therapist for over 5 years. He has worked all over the country including Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, Texas, New Mexico, California and Maine. Originally from Massachusetts, he received his doctorate in physical therapy from MCPHS University in Worcester, Massachusetts. Lucey is looking forward to becoming part of the Ekalaka community and the Dahl Memorial Healthcare staff.

OTHER IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Carla Dowdy is currently the only provider at Dahl doing DOT physicals. Please schedule physicals as soon as possible; Carla's schedule can fill up fast!

If you have prescription refills, please have your pharmacy fax the clinic a refill request and allow 72 hours for requests to be filled. If you have a prescription refill and have not been seen by a provider in a year, you will be asked to make an appointment before you will receive your refill.

Please note that same-day appointments are harder to come by. We are doing our best to accommodate everyone, but we are asking that you plan ahead to be seen. We understand people have acute illnesses. We will do our best to schedule you appropriately and get you seen as soon as possible.

We have a unique schedule in that our providers always provide 24/7 coverage for the ER and hospital. With that being said, please understand our providers aren't necessarily in the clinic every single week. If you have a specific provider you want to see, it may be 1-2 weeks before you are able to be scheduled. They do communicate with each other regularly about patient care and are able to treat a patient's ongoing issues.

Our new facility brought along a new opportunity for our community. We now offer CT scans locally. The radiology department can now offer CT scans to everyone. If you have the need for outpatient radiology services including CT, please contact the radiology department for scheduling and have your provider fax the imaging request to 406-775-8892.

Thank you for your continued support.