Making hospital lobby official
Mountain News
October 3, 2024 – BY DIANE OESTREICH
On Friday, September 27, The Lake Arrowhead Chamber of Commerce joined with staff members of Mountains Community Hospital and local officials to celebrate the opening of the hospital’s new reception area in a ribbon-cutting ceremony in front of the reception desk. Robin Bull, President of the Lake Arrowhead Chamber of Commerce, was the keeper of the oversized scissors used by Kim McGuire to cut the red ribbon and officially declare the reception area open.
McGuire, Mountains Community Foundation Director, related a story from earlier in the day which highlighted the importance of the event. She happened to be there when a patient who came in for treatment had high praise for the “great space” that is now the official starting point for services offered by the hospital. Suddenly all the years of work to construct a welcoming entry point for the hospital had come to reality. The Welcome sign over the reception desk was officially communicating the message it was intended to.
Last-minute installation of a sign honoring donors who contributed to the “Patient Waiting Room and Registration Area” put the finishing touch on the spacious and attractive entry point for the hospital. “Improving the patient experience” was the stated goal of the fundraising and donations, along with the labor of constructing a hospital entry point that addresses the concerns of protection from cold weather, access for wheelchairs, and automatic doors for ease of entry.
Congratulations were offered by dignitaries or their representatives. Documents commemorating the event were presented. Armando Martinez, representing Senator Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh, said the hospital’s website presents the core values of MCH very well and read from the website’s message. “Mountains Community Hospital (MCH) provides high quality, lifesaving healthcare to the residents and visitors of the San Bernardino Mountains, one of the most densely populated mountain areas in the United States, and the most densely populated urban forest west of the Mississippi River. From Crestline to Green Valley Lake, this small mountain hospital serves a population of 26,000 people. If you take into account the influx of seasonal visitors and part-time residents, the number sometimes doubles!”
Lewis Murray, representing Supervisor Dawn Rowe, said it was an honor to represent the Supervisor, who chairs the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, in this ribbon cutting ceremony. As a mountain resident raising children, he especially appreciated having the hospital nearby, having made a few trips to the hospital himself with his kids. He read aloud the recognition and congratulatory statement from the Board of Supervisors.
Two of the people happiest about the new welcome/reception area are the insurance eligibility consultants Galla Artiaga and Sherry Cowan. Before most of the guests arrived and the official ceremonies began, they, along with Kim McGuire, expressed their joy in finally having a welcoming and private place for patients to obtain help with insurance issues. Previously patients or their representatives were directed to an obscure office that didn’t have a sign outside and where they had to ring a buzzer to gain admission and confer in a not-very-private place about their financial circumstances and insurance eligibilities. The two consultants were thrilled to point out the offices where patient privacy was now possible and where they could provide assistance in obtaining insurance. This was, for them, a finishing touch in providing a real welcome to patients in the new reception area. These two staff members are critically important in the assistance they provide to patients who come to Mountains Community. The hospital’s website explains the designation that impacts them as a Critical Access Hospital (CAH), “a designation given to certain rural hospitals by CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services). This designation was created by Congress in the 1997 Balanced Budget Act in response to a string of hospital closures in the 1980s and early 1990s.”
“The CAH designation is designed to reduce the financial vulnerability of rural hospitals and improve access to healthcare by keeping essential services in rural communities. This is accomplished through cost-based Medicare reimbursement.”
“Mountains Community Hospital is a District Hospital as well as a Critical Access Hospital located in a rural community,” the website explains. “The hospital experiences approximately 45,000 visits per year. Fifty percent of the hospital’s visits are from Medi-Cal.” Hats off to the helpful, behind-the-scenes workers who assist patients with the insurance to pay their bills.
A reception in the Hospital Rose Garden following the formalities was a time to relax, network with other attendees, and enjoy the lakeside scenery and refreshments.
