The assessment of the healthcare system shows problems with trust and services that are offered

Kimber Wraalstad, CEO by North Shore Health, and Kate Surbaugh, CEO of the Sawtooth Mountain Clinic, entered into a number of presentations in relation to the findings of the clinic and hospitals from a health assessment carried out in autumn 2024 on April 29 and 30.

Rural Health Innovations (RHI), a subsidiary of the National Rural Health Resource Center, is a non -profit organization and was ill with North Shore Health (NSH) with the implementation of the health assessment.

In addition to the care of older people, mental health and substance disorders, the main problems of the community described in the evaluation were a lack of transport and seclusion of the community.

The report found two additional topics addressed in the presentation of Rhi in front of the community. The first was Cultural misunderstandings, lack of knowledge and lack of sensitivity to the beliefs and traditions of the Ojibwe man.

The second topic was a topic of trust that resulted from the need for North Shore Health and Sawtooth Mountain Clinic to work together for the benefit of the community.

Innovations for the health of rural health were recommended that the two health facilities work together on a community project in which other stakeholders from the district are involved, including services, tribal groups and other relevant organizations.

After receiving the report, Surbaudh and Wraalstad organized a working group of the community, which comprises 26 members to achieve two main goals. The first was the development of a communication plan in relation to health resources. The second was the streamlined coordination and the documentation process.

The working group broke apart into subcommens that have examined ideas, such as a website on which all services between the clinic and the hospital are provided. However, the details of these projects remain vague.

“We are still very early in the process,” said Surbaugh during the presentation.

Surbaugh and Wraalstad were impressed by the turnout of the working group and participation in both presentations in Grand Portage and Grand Marais.

“I very much appreciate that you are working on it,” said a community member of the CEOs in response to the presentation.

Report details

The healthcare system's assessment was carried out by focus groups and important information interviews. In both cases, eleven questions were asked about their experiences and the Sawtooth Mountain Clinic and North Shore Health.

Interested residents were then asked to give a friend or family member a score of how likely they should recommend Sawtooth Mountain Clinic or North Shore Health.

In focus groups, North Shore Health achieved an average of 7.1 in the interviewed, while the Sawooth achieved Mountain Clinic 8.6. A smaller gap was found in important informant interviews, in which NSH achieved 8.8, while SMC achieved a 9.2.

North Shore's health was expressly mentioned for problems with the emergency room and a lack of trust with providers.

A comment in the report said: “Trust problems and especially at ED [emergency department] Provider and the inconsistency in care, previous negative experiences, medication errors and lack of cultural competence. “

“We had two false diagnoses in Ed,” says another comment when he gave a score for NSH.

A third comment was: “I came across some terrible locum doctors in this ED, who treated me badly or wrote injuries when they were serious.”

“[RHI’s] The results increased a lot that we were already aware of and approaching us, ”said Wraalstad to WTIP to the report.

Feedback for the Sawooth Mountain Clinic affected difficulties to book appointments and the availability of services in the clinic.

Several comments called for better communication between Sawooth Mountain Clinic and North Shore Health.

“Sawtooth Mountain Clinic and North Shore Health work a lot together behind the scenes,” said Surbagh to WTIP, “in a way that the public does not always see. And so I think that this is one of the things that have to be clearly communicated is how we work together.”

Small segment of community

The report by Lural Health Innovations of Innovations demands its limits and says: “The information is based on the comments of a small segment of the community.”

Only 53 people gave feedback in focus groups and interviews. The number corresponds to about 0.01% of the population in Cook County, which is based on the health of the North Shore and the Sawooth Mountain Clinic.

“[RHI] Put together a little more information about this qualitative data, “said Surbaugh.

Demography of the evaluation is also examined. The report states that the middle income of Cook County is $ 58,600. However, 60% of the respondents earned more than $ 60,000 annually, and over a third had a household income of more than $ 100,000 annually.

Almost a third of the respondents were retired and 40% had a degree or a professional degree. The report found in the report that those who are underemployed and under 25 were not interviewed for the survey. Only one seasonal worker was interviewed.

When asked about the costs for the survey, Wraalstad informed the WTIP that the hospital budgeted in 2024 “25,000 – 50,000 US dollars”. The amount was divided with the Sawtooth Mountain Clinic.

“Hospitals, which are referred to as 501 (3) (3), are required by the IRS to carry out an evaluation of the needs every three years. RHI has worked with many of these organizations,” Wraalstad told WTIP.

Innovations for the health of rural health conditions rejected to be interviewed for this article.

The complete report of rural health innovations is on Sawtooth Mountain Clinic website.

Kalli Hawkins from WTIP spoke to Kate Surbaugh about the board meeting of April 28, which contained questions about health assessment. You can find the audio of the conversation below.