Show Rural hospitals in the U S are closing at the rate of nearly one per week IHC is committed to providing rural health care in the Intermountain West ‘ ‘We Couldn’t Survive Without This Hospital’ ’ t was 9 ara on Monday December 26 and the crew of the Heber Creeper was rushing to clear the newly fallen snow so passengers could board the train Lowe Ashton owner of the Heber Creeper a steam locomotive that carries tourists along a scenic route through Provo Canyon had just sent his crew onto the train to stoke the stoves Lowe was preparing to use a snow blower to clear the snow from the boarding area “The snow blower was just sitting there idling but the fan’s blades were still going” Lowe said “I slapped at some ice on the expeller and the next thing I knew the fan sucked my glove in and 1 had to pull my right hand out with my left” When Lowe finally got his hand out of the blades of the machine his two middle fingers on the right hand were just barely attached by pieces of skin “My boys heard me holler and came running” Lowe said “They threw me in the truck and we XL headed for the hospital I’ve been in a lot of accidents and experienced a lot of pain before but nothing ever hurt as bad as what I was going through that morning” On arriving at IHC’s Wasatch County Hospital emergency room Lowe watched as the doctor and staff worked to save his fingers “Dr McDonald did what he could for me and then told me I was going to need a plastic surgeon to reattach the Lowe said “They called LDS Hostold them to get ready for me and pital They did everything necessary to keep my fingers intact for the trip to Salt Lake and we were on our way” At LDS Hospital Lowe spent over three hours in surgery Thanks to the first aid he received at Wasatch County and the operation he received at LDS Lowe’s fingers were saved “I’m sure that if the hospital had not been in Heber I’d never have made it down the canyon with my hand intact” Lowe says “I know I would have lost the fingers” Lowe Ashton owns the Heber Creeper above "Utah would get a black eye if its rural " hospitals started closing like they are in other parts of the country be says fingers if that emergency room and its people hadn't been in Heber to take care of me right after it happened” Taken for Granted Lowe says he thinks people tend to take the local hospital for granted until they need it “All you’ve got to do is have one emergency in your life” he said “Then you’ll be glad that hospital is here in Heber” As the owner of the Heber Creeper Lowe derives much of his business from visitors The local IHC hospital helps make it safe for tourists to visit cording to Lowe ac- “More than 750000 people will visit Wasatch State Park this year” he says “This area depends on tourism One of the things we need in order to take care of tourists is a hospital “We could survive as a community without a government but not without a hospital” he says A National Disgrace According to the American Hospital Association 43 rural community hospitals closed in the United States in 1988 That’s a rate of almost one per week - what Lowe Ashton calls “a national disgrace” In the Intermountain West small rural hospitals owned by IHC are expected to operate at a S3 5 million loss in 1989 Other residents of remote or rural communities agree with Lowe Ashton on the importance of the local hospital in the life of the town Joe Melling town manager of Cedar City Utah and a volunteer trustee of the Valley View Medical Center cites over a dozen companies that have recently relocated or expanded operations in Cedar City “Not one of those companies agreed to locate here without first demanding assurances as to the viability of the local hospital” he says Joseph M Moody Utah state representative from District 68 and chairman of the joint subcommittee on rural medical care is a leading advocate of rural hospitals “If we’re going to maintain the high quality of life we Utahns enjoy then we need our rural hospitals” he says “When we lose our hospitals we'll lose our doctors Without the proper health care facilities businesses will die” w Half of IHC’s hospitals are rural hospitals |