After Hours Medical Care

 

My goal as magistrate is to improve the quality of life for the citizens of district 2 and ultimately all Pendleton County citizens.  As I mentioned in the last article, I will be sharing some of the concerns of the citizens in my district, and I will attempt to come up with realistic solutions to these concerns. 

My neighbor mentioned that he and his wife had to travel 25 minutes north to get Covid testing after they arrived home because after hours medical care was not being offered in Pendleton County.  Another neighbor had to take her son to Harrison Memorial Hospital for testing as well, which was a 45-minute drive from their home in Pendleton County.

Background:

As you can recall, urgent care services were being offered at the Family Care Associates in Falmouth several years ago.  Health care professionals from Harrison Memorial Hospital provided the after-hours medical services in the Family Care Associates office after they closed for the day.  Because these services were under-utilized, the urgent care facility closed several years ago.  According to the office manager at Family Care Associates, this closing happened prior to the pandemic.  When I have mentioned after hours medical care, everyone immediately says it has been “tried and failed already.”  The pandemic has changed how people view urgent care services.  I think most of us viewed urgent care services as just a step down from the emergency room.  If I was going to go to an urgent care facility, I wanted an emergency room nearby in case that urgent problem progresses to something more serious.  I suspect other people had the same outlook as I did, which may have led to the underutilization of urgent care services in Pendleton County.  The problem in Pendleton County is the primary care offices are being stretched so much you can’t expect them to stay open until 8pm in the evening to accommodate people that have arrived home to find out their children or loved ones need to see a health care provider for strep testing, covid testing, or for a respiratory or sinus infection. 

Possible Solution:

Many of you have probably used a clinic inside a pharmacy or grocery store in the last two years.  If you go to Walgreens, it is called Healthcare Clinic.  If you go to Kroger, it is called The Little Clinic.  CVS Pharmacy has a clinic as well known as the Minute Clinic, and this Minute Clinic could be a possible solution to Pendleton County residents having to travel to get after hours medical care outside our county.  The closest Minute Clinic to Falmouth is on Beechmont Avenue in Ohio.  There is also a Minute Clinic in Georgetown, KY.  Carly Ramsey, CVS manager in Falmouth, mentioned that their pharmacy stays very busy giving vaccines considering it is in a small town.  Even though Ms. Ramsey feels a Minute Clinic would be successful in Falmouth, it ultimately is not her decision.  I have been in correspondence with the CVS corporate headquarters in Rhode Island.  Unfortunately, Minutes Clinics are not being expanded at this time.  However, the director of operations in Kentucky encouraged me to reach out in 6 months when these kinds of decisions are being determined.  In the meantime, if you are a nurse practitioner who would be potentially interested in this line of work, please contact me.  I am attempting to collect names of potential NPs in case there is concern about staffing in a rural area.  Considering I work at a university that trains Nurse Practitioners, I think this issue can be easily addressed.  If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me at smnordheim@aol.com or call my home at 859-472-2799.  This proposal is just one possibility to improve the lives and health of PC citizens.  What a Minute Clinic offers that a primary care office does not is convenience.  You simply walk in when it is convenient for you. 

With PC Pride,

Shawn Mills Nordheim

Candidate for Magistrate District 2