Opinion: New Providence clinic won't necessarily mean better access

Providence St. Joseph Medical Center is investing $31 million in a new rural health clinic in Polson. More space sounds promising, but a new building is not the same as better access.

Providence eliminated its walk-in clinic and now offers scheduled same-day appointments. But what happens when those appointments are full? Patients with urgent, non-emergency problems are left waiting for an appointment or using the ER.

Not every illness is an emergency, but not every illness can wait weeks either.

Providence says the new clinic will accommodate seven primary-care physicians. But “accommodate” does not tell us whether these are seven new providers or existing providers moving into a new building. If we’re simply relocating an already limited workforce, how does that increase access?

Retention matters, too. Rural communities struggle to keep physicians after short-term service commitments end. Recruitment means little without a plan to keep providers here.

Before celebrating 26 exam rooms, our community deserves answers: How many net-new providers are being hired? How will Providence retain them? How many same-day appointments will be available, and what happens when they’re full?

Access isn’t measured in buildings or exam rooms. It’s measured by whether a patient can actually get an appointment when they need one.

– Camille Daley, Ronan