Clinic gets a huge jump-start

By Keeley Fitzgerald for The Three Rivers Edition - 08/22/2006

A $500,000 gift, made by Sun West Ranch owners Ted and Heidi Gildred, became official last Thursday during a ceremony held at the site of the future hospital and clinic in Ennis.

ENNIS — Minutes before Sun West Ranch owners Ted and Heidi Gildred presented a check for $100,000 to the Madison Valley Hospital and Clinic construction project, those in attendance got a taste for what is to come once the $8.5 million facility is completed.

Starting this week the hospital will have state-of-the-art CT scan capabilities. The newly acquired CT machine, temporarily located in a mobile unit on the east side of the hospital, will be operational starting this week. The old CT machine is a used 1996 model.

According to MVHC X-ray technologist J.T. Tait, CT images taken by the new machine will immediately be routed to a group of trained radiologists in Sheridan, Wyo. A diagnosis will be made within minutes by a trained radiologist who will then relay the information back to Madison Valley Hospital.

“With the telemedicine of today, we can get expert diagnoses 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Tait said. “They can literally take the image we send them slice by slice, millimeter by millimeter and make a diagnosis. They can diagnose anything they see in the images.” Tait added that having a CT machine in Ennis will potentially save many lives. Almost instantaneous diagnoses are now a reality thanks to the marvels of modern medicine.

“I have had quicker response having the images sent away to be looked at than I have when the image is being looked at in house,” Tait said. “It takes about 10-12 seconds to transmit an image. A diagnosis can be made by an expert within minutes. The turn around time is really amazing.” During a quick tour of the new mobile CT facility, Tait explained that setting up the 3,500-pound machine was probably the hardest part. When taking images of the patient the machine makes one entire revolution every second, so balancing the machine and mobile unit was essential. The mobile unit also had to meet all hospital codes and regulations.

“A one second revolution is pretty awesome when you look at the weight of the machine. Getting it balanced properly was key. If this thing wasn’t balanced properly this trailer would shake like crazy,” said Tait.

Once the new hospital is built, the CT machine will be moved to its permanent upper level location within the radiology department.

According to Samuel Korsmoe, executive director of the Madison County Economic Development Council, patients won’t have to wait long for more modern diagnostic and treatment care as construction on the new facility is expected to begin in early 2007. With an anticipated build time of 12-15 months, Korsmoe says the new hospital/clinic will be open for business in early 2008.

The new facility will be built on a 3-acre plot of land adjacent to the current facility. The 3-acre plot was purchased in June 2005 from the Montana Department of Transportation for $123,900. Once the new facility is built, the current hospital/clinic structure will be demolished for parking space.

Aside from expanded radiology services, patients at the new hospital/clinic can expect more trained nurses and physicians, more exam rooms, pediatric rooms, and an overall enhancement in services and technology related to the clinic, lab, physical therapy and emergency room departments.