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Show 1 0 Vernal Express Friday, December 6, 1985 CJtMltftD Why bankruptcies are so high in Utah M? Aiternafiiive BieaWi KATHIE BRENDEMUHL, AVMC COMMUNITY RELATIONS A few years ago, health care providers and consumers alike approached medical care and treatment as if the health care dollars had unlimited funds available. Today, we have found the funds are limited and government legislation has put a tight ceiling on spending of those health care dollars. Health care providers have the biggest challenge they have ever been faced with under new legislation and health insurance restrictions. Providing quality health care, which the consumer has grown to expect, at a price that is cost effective. Ashley Valley Medical Center, an HCA affiliate hospital, has accepted the new challenge in health care. A major change in delivery of service has been an important concept in meeting this new challenge. Years ago, the acute care hospital was the source of just about all health care. The physician admitted the patient to the hospital for acute care, minor surgery, and long term care. Today, in order for hospitals to function in a manner, hospital admissions must decrease in number and length of stay. So how do hospitals maintain quality health care under these circumstances? They develop and utilize alternative methods of care. Health care provided by the same highly trained health care professionals in a different environment. cost-effecti- SERVICES Probably one of the most highly n utilized and types of alternative health care is now being providor short-staed on an basis. Insurance companies have of this type realized the of care, and most companies provided benefits under this type of care umbrella. In fact, many insurance companies today are requiring prior approval and second opinions for serbasis vices performed on an when services are available. T well-know- y cost-savin- out-patie- services at Ashley Valley Medical Center include diagnostic services from the Out-patie- laboratory, radiology and respiratory care departments; same day surgery; and physical therapy services. Short stay surgery is a fairly new concept in health care for patients requiring minor surgical or diagnostic procedures which are performed under local, regional or general anesthesia in the operating room. Patients enter the hospital the same day of the procedure and return home later that afternoon or evening. This same day service saves the patient money by reducing the amount of skilled nursing care needed and provides a less "V&lnai Starts at 7:30 & 9:30 Ends Thursday & 9:15 Starts Friday The Gods Are Crazy Rated PG TRI CIYEMS THEATRE I Starts at 7:15 & 9:10 Ends Thursday MATT DULON TARGET Starts at 7:15 & 9:00 Starts Friday t, HOME HEALTH CARE A new service developed in the past year at Ashley Valley Medical Center One Show Nightly 7:30 Starts Friday Rainbow Brite & 9:25 Ends Thursday TWIT HW m One Show Nightly 7:40 Starts Friday Show Information 789-613- 9 continuation from the acute care facility and the goal is to return the patient to his or her previous state of health and life style. The Uintah Care Center currently discharges from the facility 44 percent of the patients admitted. Of those 44 percent, approximately 27 percent return to their own homes. Adults of all ages are cared for under a varying set of health care needs. Some patients are admitted directly to extended care from the home. Others are transferred to extended care from home health or from the acute care hospital when the patients physician determines extended skilled nursing or more intensive rehabilitative services are necessary. Among the staff at UCC are registered nurses, dieticians, physical therapists, recreational therapists and social workers. The business office staff includes a manager who is specially trained and experienced in extended care financing. This type of resource person offers patients and families assistance in finding financial resources for their continued health care needs. WORKING TO PROVIDE QUALITY AT AFFORDABLE COST The alternative health care services in the community are working together to provide each patient with the type of health care which will provide optimum support at the lowest possible cost. The patients physician becomes the key advisor for this type of coordination effort. He determines the level of care the patient requires, the length of time at that level and the best alternative until the patient reaches the maximum level of functioning. Assisting the physician in health care planning are registered nurses at the hospital, care center and home health agency. These nurses provide assessment and counseling for the patient and family to help them with the transition from one level and type of care to another. The choices in health care services can be confusing and often times the person in the community is unsure of where to turn. Community residents can contact their doctor or any of the facilities in the area for information and guidance. Unemployment in Uintah County and the state increased by one percentage point in the projected November rates over the revised October rates. The unemployment rate in Uintah County increased from 6.7 percent in October to 7.7 percent in November. The overall unemployment rate in Utah increased from 5.3 percent in October to 6.3 percent in November. Uintah Countys unemployment has continued to fluctuate during the past two years dropping to its lowest point last September. In September the unemployment rate was only 5.4 percent. Overall the unemployment rate in the Basin only increased slightly in November rising from 7.1 percent to 7.9 percent. Duchesne County experienced an increase in unemployment while Daggett County showed a decrease. Last month unemployment in Duchesne County increased from 8.2 percent in October to 8.6 percent in November. Last year unemployment in Duchesne County was 9.5 percent. Daggett Countys unemployment rate decreased from 2.3 percent in October to 1.9 percent in November. A year ago unemployment in Daggett County was only one percent. One of the major reasons for the fluctuation in the Daggett County rate is due to the relatively small labor force. The highest unemployment rate in Utah was in Juab County at 18.7 percent. Juab has had a fairly high unemployment rate for several months. Last year unemployment in Juab County was 19.5 percent. Rich County had the lowest unemployment rate in November at 1.4 percent. The civilian labor force in the Uintah Basin increased by 1.4 percent last month over the 1984 figures. The labor force increased from 18,420 to MATERNAL CHILD CARE assess- ment and teaching are available for the family. LABORATORY SERVICES include blood drawn in the home and samples taken to the hospital laboratory for analysis. INTRAVENOUS THERAPY upon the physicians request is available for short-terIV fluid needs andor medications administered by professional nurses in the patients home. UCC Director of Nursing, visits with needs for personalized plan of care. DIANA JARRETT, and assesses patients can THERAPY PHYSICAL evaluate the patients physical condition and either follow through on a program initiated while the patient was in the hospital, or establish and carry out a program at home. The physical therapist can also assist in evaluation of the patients needs for special equipment making home care easier. PSYCHOSOCIAL NEEDS are assessed by a trained social worker who can assist the patient and family in social and financial planning and counseling. HOME HEALTH AIDES provide skilled nursing care, therapy needs and assistance under the supervision of a registered nurse or therapist. ed by a registered dietician to assist families with special theraputic dietary requirements. RESPIRATORY THERAPY will evaluate oxygen and pulmonary therapy needs and provide the necessary equipment and skilled care required. The home environment plays a significant role in promoting health and facilitating the healing process. Home health care provides a meaningful health care service for ill persons, speeds recovery and rehabilitation for those with acute or chronic health problems and assists in the prevention of permanent disability, admission or readmission to an institution. Ashley Valley Medical Center Home Health Agency is fully licensed by the State of Utah and certified by Medicare and Medicaid to provide services to Dagget, Duchesne and Uintah Counties. Your physicians referral and direction for care must be provided. As with all health care problems or questions, your physician can best direct you to the type of health care which will provide you with the quickest return to your maximum level of health and fitness. This community is fortunate to have a new extended skilled and long-ter- care facility, the Uintah Care Center. An extension of the acute care hospital, the Care Center provides skilled nursing services, rehabilitation services and daily physician coverage. The progressive treatment programs assist the patients in reaching their maximum level of functioning. As recent as ten years ago, extended care facilities were basically limited to nursing homes. Places where people saw little hope for the future and felt they were there to die. Today, extended care facilities still provide some residential care for experienced in business may attempt to form new businesses. One of the prime causes of business failure is in- experienced management, says so an increase in inexperienced people in the market might Southwick, raise overall failure rates slightly. Meanwhile, in the same period, Utah fell victim to national trends, including the sharp recession and rise in interest rates that began in the late 1970s. The BEBR report points to a national trend toward filing bankruptcy under Chapters 11 and 13 of the bankruptcy act, provisions enacted in 1978 allowing companies to continue operating while reducing debts and reorganizing. The number of complete liquidations under Chapter 7 of the act has dropped. That trend has been even more pronounced in Utah, says the BEBR. In the United States as a whole, an average of 69 percent of bankruptcy actions for the years 1979-8- 4 were Chapter 7 liquidations, compared to 62.3 percent of Utah filings. In the nation as a whole, Chapter 7 actions as a percentage of all bankruptcies dropped from 69 percent in 1979 to 61.5 percent in 1984, says the BEBR. However, the percentage of Chapter 7 filings dropped even more in Utah. In 1979, 76 percent of Utah bankruptcy filings were liquidations, but that figure dropped to 49.3 percent in 1984. Basin unemployment continues to fluctuate is Home Health Care. This type of service is an important concept in the services future of health care. augment the fine medical and diagnostic treatment available at the hospital and provides care in the least costly fashion while meeting the health needs of those patients who no longer require acute hospital care services. The AVMC Home Health Agency provides: REGISTERED NURSES to observe and evaluate patients health needs and ensure compliance to physicians therapy protocol. PEDIATRIC CARE is provided to assist the family at the request of the physician. EXTENDED HEALTH CARE Starts at 7:40 those who are no longer able to live alone or who choose not to live alone. However, the emphasis of care is a DIETARY COUNSELING is provid- LIVE AND DIE IN L.A. TO Starts at 7:30 traumatic environment because the patient returns to his or her own home shortly afterwards. Children especially benefit from this type of alternative care because it drastically reduces the period of time spent away from home and family. Rehabilitative services performed by physical therapy is another examservices. A ple of quality patient may have sufferd a broken hip, care for a short required time to repair the fracture, and once stabilized may go home and return to the hospital on a daily basis for remobilization of the injured hip. Diagnostic services have been used on an basis for quite some time. However, now these services are planned more carefully and many times, patients may be able to have testing done prior to a planned hospital admission. This type of health utilization planning again helps to control costs by often times reducing the number of days the patient then has to spend in the hospital. are Business failures and bankruptcy filings have gone up faster in Utah than in the rest of the nation in recent years, but thats not necessarily a negative statistic, says a University of Utah researcher. Utah ranked third out of the 50 states and District of Columbia in net increase in business failures between 1980 and 1983, says a report from the Universitys Bureau of Economic and Business Research, (BEBR). Business failure is defined as any termination of operation resulting in losses to creditors. Meanwhile, between 1978 and 1984, the state ranked seventh in net percent increase in legal bankruptcy filings. Analysis shows, however, that the late 1970s and early 80s were periods of rapid business and employment growth throughout the Intermountain West, particularly in Utah, says BEBR research assistant Holly Southwick. For instance, Small Business Administration figures show Utah ranked second in the nation in rate of increase in jobs from 1976 to 1982. That indicates a brisk rate of new business formation, she says, and since a certain percentage of new businesses fail or file bankruptcy, the number of failures and bankruptcies rose sharply compared to earlier years. Another factor is that in a period of business opportunity, more people in ROSSA SIMMONS, UCC Business Manager, counsels family on financial resources available. 18,680. Uintah County increased their work force by the greatest number of people but experienced the smallest In Daggett County the work force increased by 10.9 percent rising from 380 in 1984 to 420 in November of 1985. Duchesne County increased from 6,810 workers to 6,960. In Uintah County the work force increased by 70 people rising from 11,230 to 11,300. Statewide the work force increased by 7.8 percent rising from 731,400 in 1984 to 788,200 in 1985. The largest labor force is concentrated in the Wasatch Front, while the smallest is in Piute County. Although the labor forces increasin ed the Uintah Basin nonagricultural wage and salary jobs decreased both in Uintah and Duchesne counties. In Uintah County, nonagricultural jobs decreased by 4.3 percent, dropping from 8,540 to 8,170. In Duchesne the County, nonagricultural positions dropped from 4,310 to 4,270 and in Daggett County they increased from 250 to 260. LOOKING FOR loving home. Mixed breed dog is available for adoption. Other pets are also available from the Uintah Animal Shelter. County 789-560- Altamont woman improves in SLC An Altamont woman continues to recover in a Salt Lake City Hospital from injuries sustained in a car accident on Whiterocks Road in October. Linda Hiatt, 24, was seriously injured when the car she was a passenger in collided with a horse on Whiterocks Road at approximately 3:30 a.m. Oct. 25. The driver of the car, John M. Glazier, was traveling northbound when he struck a horse that was in the road. In his attempt to avoid hitting the horse, Glazier swerved and the passengers side of the car struck the horse. Hiatt is currently hospitalized in the intensive care unit of the University of Utah Hospital. Her condition has been updated from critical to stable. The accident was investigated by Trooper York Shields with the Utah Highway Patrol. HOT STAR The hottest known star, discovered near the Little Dipper, is 40 times hotter than the surface of the sun, reports International Wildlife magazine. Scientiest believe it is evolving so rapidly that in 10 years it will undergo the same changes that will occur in about 5 billion years for our sun. 7 pm to 10 pm Sunday, December 8 All Toys in stock Regular Price (Sorry, No Layaways) YOU CAN T DO BETTER THAN --fkt 1153 West Hwy 40 - &Ui(jPlACl Vernal : See our inserts in the Friday Vernal Express this week and next. |