by John Dowd
After its groundbreaking ceremony on March 8 of last year, the new Bitterroot Health Darby Scripps Clinic was finished at break-neck speed, hosting its grand opening last Wednesday. On January 17, the clinic welcomed dozens of visitors to tour the facility, and to cut the ribbon, officially opening the structure to service the community. However, though this may have been the opening, the clinic actually saw its first patients as early as Dec. 27.
According to Bitterroot Health CEO, John Bishop, the speed of the project came down to knowing and having worked with the contractors before, who are familiar with the Darby area. Bishop said that the contractors “knew what the resources in the community were like.” He added, “Anytime you have the right people doing the right job, you get a great outcome.”
Bishop was proud of the work they have done, opening the clinic, saying that the place “really is a hometown clinic. A Darby facility.” This was echoed by Maria Rennaker, a PA-C at the Darby Scripps Clinic and a Darby native. She spoke on the staff and their mission, saying “These people live here,” and “want to be the best of the best in quality care.” For her, as she explained when she spoke during the grand opening, her career has always been about “connecting public healthcare and chronic diseases.” She has always felt driven to find ways to get patients the care they need, and even work to prevent such disease. She said they want to be a voice for the community regarding healthcare, expressing how the area has long been undeserved, and far out of reach of services.
“I truly enjoy sitting down with people, hearing them and being able to help them,” said Rennaker.
Another to speak before the ribbon cutting was the namesake of the facility, Charles Scripps. “It was a lot of fun to be a part of a project that’s in your community,” said Scripps. Though he mentioned that he is not in Darby, he still sees it as an extension of his home and community. He hopes that the facility will be “a way to make that day less bad, a day that may be one of the worst in their lives,” said Scripps about the potential patients that may come to visit the Darby clinic.
In Bishop’s thoughts ahead of the ribbon cutting, he told onlookers he was extremely proud of the staff of the new facility. “This team is one of the bright spots in the valley,” said Bishop. He thanked Scripps, and the community, saying, “Darby has been one of the most loyal communities we have served.”
After the speeches, everyone crowded outside to watch three generations of a local family, relatives of Rennaker, cut the ribbon outside the front of the facility. Following that, attendees of the opening were given an all-access tour of the new clinic.
One of the things mentioned about the facility during the tour was how similar it is to its sister clinic in Stevensville. Both are “designed around patient flow,” according to Bishop. Each facility prioritizes speed and efficiency of service. The Darby clinic is effectively a smaller version of the one in Stevensville, relying on many of the same tools, such as a fleet of various service carts, fully outfitted and self sufficient exam rooms and a well trained staff that can perform various cross-discipline tasks. According to Rennaker, this is to allow nearly any available staff member to jump in and help wherever needed. The facility is also utilizing a new method of “huddling” at the beginning of each day. These huddles are group meetings that quickly run through the tasks of the day, worries, obstacles and more. These meetings are then swiftly relayed to upper management, allowing a seamless flow and dispersal of information.
The facility includes two state-of-the-art radiology labs, six identically equipped exam rooms, a large physical therapy space and a spacious lobby area. The facility also includes the possibility of building up in the future, if the facility needs to grow.
Those radiology labs are so well equipped that they can allow for next day and even same day results. Another important space of the facility is an integrated Behavioral Health space. According to the resident counselor, Alex Brown, this differs from standard counseling in that it is more results-based and attends to “the here and now.” These include tackling coping, and working with patients to utilize their strengths to tackle concerns and effect change in the best way they can.
The clinic also houses an EMT/EMS crew and an ambulance barn. In addition, the facility may one day include a pharmacy.
More information about the clinic can be found on the Bitterroot Health website, bitterroothealth.org. Bitterroot Health can also be reached by calling (406) 375-4142.