Tamarack Resort's recently opened medical clinic is expanding its services to provide better care for its patients.
The clinic opened Dec. 15, 2004, the same day as the resort, and is a joint partnership between Cascade Medical Center and Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise.
The facility is an urgent care clinic capable of stabilizing and transferring patients with trauma and other medical emergencies, said Amy Chapman, director of patient services at Cascade Medical Center.
With urgent care, patients can get help for non-life threatening accidents or medical conditions that require prompt medical attention to avoid complications or suffering. Such
conditions can be cuts needing stitches, ear aches, high fevers or skin rashes.
X-ray and lab services are available at the clinic, which is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day. A helicopter landing pad was built near the clinic, and has been used at least twice since opening day by air ambulances evacuating patients, Chapman said.
The clinic is placed at the base of the ski hill at the east end of Discovery Village, so skiers and snowboarders can conveniently exit the slopes and slide up to the clinic. A rack is provided outdoors for equipment.
Ski patrol personnel can also bring accident victims to the back door, the facility's emergency entrance, where staff can meet them with a gurney or wheelchair to take a patient inside the building.
Chapman had no information on the number of patients seen since opening day, but noted a high percentage were "industrial accidents,"
including people hurt on the job in construction or in the kitchen, and not just skiers and snowboarders. But there are also the typical urgent care cases, she said.
"We have people who come in with their coughs and colds, just anything you'd see in a doctor's office," Chapman said.
The focus for care is on boarders and skiers, but local residents are encouraged to use the facility which is open to all, not just Tamarack employees, guests or construction workers, she said.
Building up primary care services at the clinic is envisioned for the future to meet the needs of Tamarack residents and locals from as far away as Donnelly Chapman said.
Primary care is defined as basic or general health care traditionally provided by doctors who specialize in family practice, pediatrics or internal medicine.
The facility includes a reception area, two examination rooms, an X-ray room, a triage room, office and staff room.
Equipment includes a portable digital X-ray machine and electrocardiograph that connect through modems and phone lines to hospitals in other towns where a radiologist or cardiologist can give a reading - and a second opinion -within minutes.
The clinic also has its own lab where blood work can be done in house.
Three staffers, all Cascade Medical Center employees, are on site at any time, and are trained in more than one speciality.
Staffers consist of either a physician or a physician's assistant, a clinical specialist who is also the receptionist, and a lab and X-ray technician.
Regular training drills called "case scenarios" are held that simulate common resort accidents.
"Take for example, a 21-year-old male snowboarder versus a tree complaining of right leg pain: We go through procedures and use the equipment to keep everybody fresh," Chapman said.
