Editor's note: This is the second of two stories on the vision of the Morgan County Healthcare Horizon Council.
Morgan County Healthcare Horizon Council members revealed their vision to improve local health care Friday, grappling with some of the fears that people may have while stressing the importance of collaboration.
The vision hopes to pull all of Morgan County together -- instead of each city, town and health care institution acting only in its own interests -- and for groups to learn the benefits of becoming allies.
That is not necessarily easy.
As one participant said, communities like Fort Morgan, Brush and Hillrose have kept themselves separate in a number of ways.
"It (the county as a whole) could be a community if we wanted it to be," he said.
Those who have had the most success in improving their health care systems are areas which had a strong sense of united community, said Barb Bradshaw, a council member and CEO for Eben Ezer Lutheran Care Center.
There is a sense of both opportunity and threat in changing the way the health care system works in Morgan County, said Denise Denton, a consultant who has helped organize the council's efforts.
Some institutions may feel like they would have to give up something if the system began working collaboratively, one person said.
"I'm going to lose something," is the fear, Denton said.
However, most of those at the meeting saw collaboration between hospitals and other health care providers as an opportunity.
If each hospital or caregiver does not feel like it has to offer all things, there could be more kinds of services in the county, and more patients would stay in the county for health care instead of going to the big cities, one person said.
Once institutions and individual providers break down the wall of silence, health care could be more integrated, another said.
Assets like technology could be better utilized, and service delivery improved, said yet another.
Morgan County could become a "medical community" instead of isolated practices and organizations, Bradshaw said.
With collaboration, one practitioner could feel confident to send a patient to another practice or clinic for specific care, Denton said.
Morgan County has two fine hospitals, and is one of only five rural counties in Colorado which can say that, Denton noted. some other counties would be envious of that wealth of resources, but there are ways to improve, she said.
For instance, providers could go from a fee-for-service system to one where medical quality is emphasized, Bradshaw said.
Suppose a patient comes in with an injury to his head, and a doctor fixes him up -- i.e., a service and a fee, Denton said.
But what if the same man keeps coming in with head injuries and is fixed up?
"Wouldn't it be better to have a system which would deal with why he keeps coming in with head injuries in order to keep him healthy?" Denton wondered.
Bradshaw asked the crowd if participants had any feelings about all this talk about collaboration.
"It's the right thing to do," said David Callahan, Fort Morgan community development director. "It's the noble thing to do."
More than that, making health care better and keeping patients in Morgan County keeps money in the community, said Clint Crenshaw of the Rural Health Center.
When someone goes to a big city for care, the county does not just lose the cost of the medical service, but the money spent on meals, hotels and shopping, he said.
"It affects the whole economy," Crenshaw said.
If local health care providers are fighting among themselves, urban providers will take their most lucrative clients, Denton warned.
Issues
The Healthcare Horizon Council and others will need to continue to find out what works best for health care.
"They're not saying they have all the answers," Denton said.
While working on ways to improve health care in Morgan County, the council had a survey of residents taken which revealed a number of concerns, she said. however, some of the concerns are already being addressed, and the only role for the council is to let people know about it.
For example, there are too many expectant mothers who smoke despite the research showing the potential damage to the babies who are eventually born, Denton said. Morgan County's average number of smoking mothers is higher than the state average.
Public health is a necessary partner in these kinds of issues, because it is focused on prevention of harm, said Northeast Colorado Health Department Executive Director John Crosthwait.
His agency's "Baby and me Tobacco Free" program offers free disposable diapers to mothers who quit smoking before or after they become pregnant, receiving diapers for a year, he said.
That makes it a good program to entice mothers to stop smoking, Crosthwait said.
There is also a growing senior citizen population in Morgan County, and the council is looking at programs for seniors, Denton said.
Sometimes those are already in the works, she said.
The Fort Morgan Workforce Center is looking at geriatric care training for workers in the area, Denton said.
Another issue which came out in the survey was the oral health needs of Morgan County residents.
Many said they did not get dental work done because they could not afford it, Denton said.
Salud is building an expansion of its center, which will open in June of 2011, a Salud representative said.
It will have 24 examination rooms compared to the current 12 and seven dental care rooms instead of five.
It will also have various rooms for procedures and conferences, as well as mental health rooms to help people get help.
That program can collaborate with Centennial Mental Health Center, which offers a range of mental health services, including "mental health first aid" to help providers deal with patients, Denton said.
One of the big mental health issues is the high level of suicide in Northeast Colorado, including teen suicide, she said.
Rural Solutions offers suicide prevention training to professionals who work with teens and others, which helps caregivers respond to concerns about suicide and learn how to spot a person who is considering suicide, said Glenda Bang of Rural Solutions.
There is also the second Wind Fund to pay for counseling for people who cannot afford it, and the Heartbeat program for people who have been affected by suicide, she said.
Healthcare Horizon does not want to duplicate these kinds of efforts, but does want to get the word out, Denton said.
Morgan County can also learn from the experience of other areas and agencies, she said.
The Western Nebraska Regional Hospital was once one of two hospitals in its county and might have advice for Morgan County providers.
Health care providers in Morgan County need to be ready for any opportunity, Denton said.
"Congress and the president have just passed a sweeping health care reform bill that is sure to change the way care is delivered in the future ... Morgan County has a window of opportunity to anticipate how it should respond to future challenges," the health care council's vision says.
"The best way to predict the future is to go ahead and create it," Denton said.
Denton asked those at the meeting to sign up to help out with various issues such as lowering the cost of health insurance, improving access to primary health care and the other topics she presented.
To read the entire vision, go to co.morgan.co.us/mocohealthcarehorizon.html.
-- Contact Dan Barker at business@fmtimes.com.
<a href="http://www.fortmorgantimes.com/ci_15878518tag:news.google.com,2005:cluster=http://www.fortmorgantimes.com/ci_15878518Tue, 24 Aug 2010 17:45:22 GMT 00:00">Council talks of fears of collaboration
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