For Bitterroot valley residents experiencing acute respiratory distress, help is only a phone call away and, if appropriate, a same-day appointment can be made to be examined by a nurse or a doctor at the Respiratory Services center located at Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital in Hamilton. The medical facility’s entrance is through a tent where the care team privately and safely sees two patients at a time, eliminating any type of waiting area and exposure to staff or patient’s loved one. The parking area is set up by patient needs and services; it includes handicap, respiratory, and swabbing; patients receive care in their vehicle when appropriate.
Patients that are experiencing respiratory symptoms, especially those at high-risk, are encouraged to receive care at the Respiratory Services location. Patients needing care should call the clinic first at 406-375-4762, giving the medical team the opportunity to determine if this is the appropriate location. Respiratory symptoms include chest congestion, chills, cough, difficulty breathing, fever, nasal congestion, runny nose, shortness of breath and sore throat. The respiratory location is separated from the primary care and specialty clinics, making medical providers and specialists available for their patients needing care through an in-office visit and Daly Connect, the new telehealth service.
The yellow tent is the first location where you meet medical personnel. According to April Weinberger, MD, Medical Staff Director at Marcus Daly Hospital, usually a person visiting a clinic or hospital is greeted by a person at a desk who asks them to wait.
“We eliminated the waiting area,” said Dr. Weinberger, “so the process of determining what you need as a patient is being determined right at entry.” She said they ask screening questions and determine what level of service is really needed and if they need to be here. They could recommend anything from going home and getting some rest and drinking plenty of fluids to going directly into the Emergency Room or a number of options in between. They have access to x-ray machines, they can take swab samples, and they can do blood draws for lab testing. Currently, MDMH Laboratory Services processes COVID-19 collections to be tested at an outside/reference laboratory currently, and is actively working to make testing at MDMH available in the future.
Dr. Weinberger said they were seeing a lot of different kinds of issues all involving some sort of respiratory problem, such as asthma, allergies, upper respiratory tract infections, some pneumonias, some sinus infections.
Since opening on April 15, Weinberger said the Respiratory Services has been seeing about 10 people per day on average. They have the capacity to see 25 to 30 per day. She said right now people who call in can generally get an appointment and see a nurse within an hour if they chose to.
“I’m really proud of the procedures we put in place to protect our medical staff and the community in general and I think that we have done that in a step wise approach,” said Weinberger. She said limiting access, no visitors, setting up a special reception location for respiratory, and implementing universal masking all help reduce the potential for transmission of the disease.
Dr. Weinberger said that social distancing was working and was working on more the COVID-19.
“It works on all infectious respiratory diseases, not just COVID-19,” she said. She said they followed CDC criteria in testing for COVID-19 which includes ruling out other diseases first, like influenza and whooping cough. She said those cases have also significantly declined during the shelter-in-place directive. The last positive test for influenza at the hospital was last month, according to Weinberger.
Weinberger said that as we move into the Phase I Re-Opening plan, she would recommend continuing the social distancing as much as possible and avoid large groups, wear a mask in public, especially where you think that social distance might be compromised, wash hands frequently, avoid touching your face, and continue to help others who are high risk and need to be protected.
The yellow tent housing the Respiratory Services is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call first for a same-day appointment, 375-4762.