Urgent, family care provided at clinic
Who’s moving onto the Rathdrum Prairie? If the newest Kootenai County branch of North Idaho Medical Care Centers is any indication, it’s not young families with babies. Grandparents moving closer to their grandchildren and retiring seniors make up the majority of new patients in the Rathdrum medical clinic.
The office opened in 2004 under the familiar red signage of the North Idaho Medical Care Centers that are situated from Sandpoint to Post Falls. Physician Thomas Martin runs a family practice at the Rathdrum site, which is tucked between Stein’s IGA and North Idaho Fitness on Highway 41. He is one of 12 physician owners of North Idaho Medical Care Centers, the urgent care chain that was started by former state Sen. Jack Riggs in 1986. The newest of the five branches opened in Sandpoint in 2005.
A Post Falls office opened in 1993 and differs from Rathdrum in that a family practice doctor handles scheduled appointments and another physician handles the walk-in patients. The goal is for the Rathdrum branch to function similarly, but for now Martin juggles both sides. Usually scheduled patients are seen first, unless someone arrives who is profoundly ill, Martin said. He sees from two to 19 walk-in patients per day, which makes up about 30 percent of his caseload.
“The blend works if the walk-ins aren’t that many,” he said. “Ideally, 100 percent will be scheduled and we’ll have another doctor to do walk-ins.”
Patients may make appointments with Martin Monday through Friday, and immediate care doctors from the other clinic branches alternate to cover Saturday hours in Rathdrum.
Martin believes that emergency rooms should be for the “sickest of the sick.” Urgent care centers offer an alternative for less severe health situations.
“We all know that 30 to 40 percent who go to the ER shouldn’t be there,” he said. “Why go to the emergency room with a rash, a cold or laceration? We can manage that.”
That doesn’t mean the sickest patients don’t show up at Martin’s office at times. They have an emergency crash cart for those situations, but people with signs of a heart attack probably shouldn’t waste time stopping in, Martin said. Most of the patients who walk in have conditions he and his two support staff can handle, he said. He’s sent only two patients out by ambulance, and they were having cardiac events. Fortunately, the fire and rescue crew is stationed a few blocks away and arrived in a hurry, Martin said.
“It’s totally unpredictable what could walk in,” he said. “Anything from cuts and minor colds to full-blown heart attacks and major trauma.”
North Idaho Medical Care Center spokesperson Lisa Aitken said that physicians like the link between immediate care and family care within their system. It allows for patients being seen for urgent care needs to find family doctors, which benefits physicians who are looking to build their practice.
Martin arrived on the prairie from Boise after answering an ad. He hoped to find a community near good fly-fishing, his favorite pastime. Martin is originally from upstate New York and attended medical school at the University of Alberta in Canada. He may be a good match for patients who wish their doctor would explain health issues better. Martin taught at medical school with a doctorate in physiology before deciding to pursue his medical degree.
He’s practiced family medicine for 15 years and has a special interest in palliative care. He substitutes for Kootenai Medical Center’s palliative care physician and hopes to work more with hospice in the future.
Martin believes he is helping to fill a gap in the community’s health care for senior patients who are new to the community and need a physician. Although his patients have ranged in age from newborn to 102, the majority are on the older end of the spectrum.
“It’s not young families that are coming here,” he said. “It’s retirees, a lot of seniors. Well over 70 to 80 percent of our new patients are above 65.”
Some have had trouble finding a physician because of limits doctors place on the number of Medicare patients they’ll accept into their practice. Martin has a strong background in geriatrics and has not put a limit on such patients yet, but acknowledges that they are often more complicated to treat due to multiple health concerns.
The Rathdrum clinic hours will expand once it becomes busier and another physician is hired to handle walk-ins. The other Kootenai County branches of North Idaho Medical Care Centers operate from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days per week.
“Ultimately it will model the other clinics and have extended hours,” Martin said.
But for now, don’t look for him on Sundays. The Rathdrum office is closed and most likely, Martin is on one of the area waterways, in search of fish.
“That’s what I do as often and as much as possible,” he said.