Missoula City Council Public Safety and Health Committee Minutes

Meeting #:
Date:
Time:
-
Location:
City Council Chambers
140 W. Pine Street, Missoula , MT
Members present:
  • Michelle Cares,
  • John DiBari,
  • Heather Harp,
  • Jordan Hess,
  • Gwen Jones,
  • Julie Merritt,
  • and Heidi West
Members absent:
  • Stacie Anderson,
  • Julie Armstrong,
  • Mirtha Becerra,
  • Jesse Ramos,
  • and Bryan von Lossberg

​​​​​​​​The minutes were approved as submitted.

3.1

Gwen Jones stated the Shriners is now doing a 5k run in Missoula as their main fundraiser since they no longer have the circus. 

Kristin Monasmith presented on how the Spokane Shriners Hospital can be a resource for families.  She stated the Shriners raises money to support the hospital and the kids.  

The Shriners hospital in Spokane has been there for over 90 years, pushing on 100.  Their vision is to be a leader in taking care of kids.  They are 1 of 22 locations.  Not all are hospitals, they have ambulatory surgery centers and clinics.  Spokane is a hospital, they are one of the smallest, they may be small but they are mighty.  Their facility is able to do a mix of out patient and inpatient.  Long term kids are not there, their technology is better, surgeons are better.  80-85% of surgeries are outpatient surgery.  Spokane Shriners is just for pediatric orthopedics, she provided a list of what services they provide.  She stated they are very specialized and good at what they do.   

The Spokane Shriners hospital allows them to take care of the kids under one roof.  Region covers Montana, northern Idaho, Washington, British Columbia, Alberta and Alaska.  They will take kids up to 18 years of age,  regardless of ability to pay.  When they started this program, they didn't take insurance, in 2010, they started to accept insurance.  Again though, it's important to remember that they will take care of a family regardless of ability to pay.  

Spokane Shriners has the largest group of fellowship trained pediatric orthopedists in our region.  Kristin stated their surgeons and medical staff, see it all and do it all.  One of the main specialties are spinal surgeries - mainly scoliosis.  Again, they only focus on orthopedics. 

She provided a names and photos of the medical staff at Spokane Shriners. 

Kristin stated access to care has never been easier.  Prior, Shriners would have to sponsor a child.  Now its as easy as a phone call.  Most referrals come from doctors.  They have staff who go and make sure providers know how to refer.  If parents just call, intake staff does the work to make the referral and appointments.   

She stated how important it is for them to be where families are and what measures they are doing to achieve this.  

Telehealth: connect with Telehealth, see our providers but in different way, make care more accessible, work with providers, know how to refer.

Care manager - it's not just the patient, its the whole family, care management model allows us to connect every family with a care manager and then get connected with a surgeon.  The care manager provides resources inside and outside the hospital. 

Inpatient care has 30 licensed beds, they set some out as outpatient, long term patients are held in another wing.  Provide 24/7 respiratory care, have an in house lab service and pharmacy.  There are two operating rooms, surgeries are held Monday thru Friday.  

Outpatient care has 12 exam rooms, they are adding three more.  They see 1200 patients each month.   

O&P (orthotics and prosthetics) they have an in house lab.  They started with one full time employee, adding another and a tech.  They are so good at what they do.  A child can come in clinic, and if they need an adjustment, they just walk down hall and we make sure they are taken care of.  Prosthetic leg, we pride ourselves in giving the child the prosthetic they want that meets their wants, desires.  Had a patient who wanted to do MMA kickboxing, so we figured out a way to give her a leg that would work for this. 

Kristin provided other patient stories that were provided a prosthetic that adhered to their needs. 

The hospital has a motion analysis center.  It's the only one for medical for kids.  It creates a 3-D version of the child.  It's the same technology they use to make animation. Allows them to study movement, physical testing, strength motor, turning on/off of muscles.  This is the best treatment, allows them to determine if they need physical therapy, bracing or surgery.  Then we do the care and test again. We have 200 kids per year that come through the lab.  

We have an urgent pediatric fracture clinic, the PAs run it. 

9:14 John Dibari present.

MAGnet Expansion Control is cutting edge technology.  We call it magic, it is magnet controlled.  So instead of having to go in for surgery every time an adjustment needs to be made to the the rods, they go in and magnetically move rods open, only takes about 15 minutes. The child can go to their appointment and go right back to school.  It's a complete game changer.

 

 

Kristin answered questions asked by council members. 

It was agreed that an update on local efforts for Shriners fundraising specific to Missoula would be a nice follow up to this presentation. 

 

  • No Motion.

    Vote results:
No Item Selected