Show looking to build a small inpatient hospi-t- al m North Logan bat nothing affitiri has been done Smite said Cache Valley residents can abo look forward to more options for kCacfae Valley is as good and oous are as low as anywhere m Utah Ttght up from is a prevailing theme that Cache Vh3ey really does have exori km physidam medical health muses and health care fadlizies" Smite mid "It size became the level of sopbisticuioa is beyond its sue” Although the high cost of health cue won't be going tows Smith said the me of increase is slowing Logu Regional he said raised its overall medical oosts lo pariena GQ2 percent last year for less than the rise m the Consumer Price Index The rate was kept down despite a 6 percent increase ia the hospital’s cost for medical wages and mppriet acoord- mg In Smite The biggest reason costs although sail expensive cube held as low as they are is more efficiency is delivering heahh rwn innr Cmifh cnul SJanoMlNnJhrad Journal mnoss as nuns Pauses MoKanna namouss hurt mentors 1 rom tin chwt and book Tompkins ifi fw smsrBeiqr room Aar tnands" spied f oofles ah oflarw pk ahioli caussd an aoosisralBd puiw week in downtown Logan The clinic is Castiawd frees Page 47 open Tuesday and Thursday from 6 io 9 'YOU South said "We take care of people p jbl and is for patients wshoot insurance hcppened of their ability to pay” to wok in Smith said the medical suff asks far Smith said “charity care is one advan- Tompkins Jmay wsaad bre-specti- vc on a cardbc arrest and she didn't moke it of being a hospital started out as a which Regional Logu IDS Onreh-onue- d hospital next to the Logu Temple moved to its present she in 1980 and is one of24 hospitals now part of the Intermountain Health Cm system Tlie 1484red hospital is the oolyinpa-rictemedifacility or hospital in Cache County Smith points with pride to figures showing Logu Regional despite enjoysering a virtual monopoly oo beate-car- c vices ia Cache Countv provided nearly SI milbou io five "charity care" to patients in 1996 alone Western Medical Inc iodepcadem isos outpatient surgery cencompuy ter down the rtrecl The center operates Monday through Friday starting at 7 am and just added “urgent care doctor” The doctor mill to 8 see walk-i- n patients from 11 on weekdays pjd Logu Regional also has its "free" dinic for indigent care open two nights a tage not-for-pr- cd u u Page 48 u to sonre indication of BonrnHiranor and those with insurance are referred to tecir private physician "But we trust them" Smith said Smith said the clinic treats thousands of noopaying patients and wiD handle severe cases regardless of die parents’ income or states of insurance "We believe it's in die best interest of the community to take care of them" Smith said "If w e let them go they cu n become forest fires as we call them in the medical field" With soaring and costs added to unprecedented research breakthroughs what does Smite see ia the near future in Cache VaSey? In tee next three to five years he said Cache Valley midnss should sec more options for medical care with more "aooem points” or more dooms offices and dinacs spread throughout the vaOcy "There will simply be more piaces to get health cue” Smite The Columbia hospital daw which operates a number of hospitals m Utah is lnH-Mow- "We've found teat if you do things right tee first tiine it actually costs less" Smite said Another area Logu Regional is moving to is natmal birth m the hospkal thereby holding costs lo the patient down Smith aid medical cue holds exritmg Long-terprospects universally Smith said "In tee aggregate the new frontier is the whole area where science will have dm ability lo identify certain gene makers” he said The breaklfaronghs could change the engineering of genetics to eliminate some common diseases Smite said “You cu envision what could happen with such things as diabetes obesity shown to be genetically predisposed" Smite said "It is a most exciting vanguard” W2J dramatic advances m the delivery of health cue find their way into the emergency room? The universal answer is yo particulw-l- y with more sophisticated machinery and treaanent devices But tec miirinu wifl remain tee same TbeyH sill come seeking help day and night — the young mothers with anxious faces bolding children who don't undersand the ballplayers and drivers and people who foil people m pom AH have one thing m This is the last place they want lo Ire |