At a time when communities in the west ends of Montrose and San Miguel counties are talking about planning for the future, Uncompahgre Medical Center (UMC) has launched a public education effort to inform the people of the region about the center’s impact across county lines and how UMC is also focused on that future.
“We’ve taken care of roughly 40 percent of the residents of western Montrose County,” said Chuck Porth, UMC Chief Executive Officer, in a recent appearance before the Nucla Town Board. “Over half of my full-time staff are Montrose County residents, and together they’re bringing home over $1.1 million in payroll.”
Among the center’s employees, there are two physicians, a registered nurse, a nurse practitioner, a dentist, a dental assistant, a licensed clinical social worker and a pharmacist, offering a range of health services not available elsewhere in the area.
Porth has made similar appearances before the town boards in Naturita and Norwood and county commissions in Montrose and San Miguel counties. He was speaking in support of the West End Vision Plan, a series of guidelines for future community priorities, created after public meetings involving more than 700 people. The three towns and the two counties have all adopted the plan.
“I just want to be on record as being supportive of the plan,” said Porth, who has since accepted an invitation to join the plan’s stewardship committee to implement ways of carrying out the plan’s goals. “We are a player,” he added.
In a fact sheet distributed to West End elected officials, UMC, a Federally Qualified Health Center, pointed out that Montrose County benefits from some of the center’s new innovations, such as a patient shuttle service to get people to and from their medical and dental appointments.
“Eighty-two percent of the patients who used this service were Montrose County residents,” the document stated.
A similar percentage of people in Montrose County also use the food distribution service for patients who are homebound, a joint effort of UMC and the Food Bank of the Rockies. The free transportation and food distribution are available only to UMC’s patients.
Over the last few years UMC has received high marks from organizations that evaluate the quality of health care facilities. Out of the 1,400 Federally Qualified Health Centers in the U.S., UMC has consistently ranked in the top 10% nationally. Porth said that commitment to quality is reflected in patient satisfaction.
Susan Rice, recently-retired librarian of the Naturita Community Library, said she’s been going to Norwood’s Uncompahgre Medical Center for her medical and dental appointments ever since moving to the west end of Montrose County almost 50 years ago.
“The providers are really exceptional right now,” said Rice. “You can tell they’re very caring. They treat everyone equally.”
And as the West End plans for the future, representatives of Uncompahgre Medical Center want the public to know that the Norwood clinic is evolving to meet the medical and dental needs of the area.
“We are very grateful for the trust the community has placed in us to take care of them and their loved ones,” Porth said.
