New Provider Starts At MCMC

27 Jan 2022 Events, News

Another provider has joined the staff at the Mountrail County Medical Center this month in the clinic. Brittany Haugtvedt, FNP started on Monday, Jan. 17. She will be seeing patients Tuesday through Friday at the clinic.

Growing up in Beach, ND, she received her undergraduate degree at the University of Mary and her graduate degree at UND. She worked for five years at the Minot Health Clinic and was a nurse there as well.

She says that she chose to become an FNP because she wanted something better for her family. When she was accepted into the program, she found that it was a way for her to offer a different approach to finding the cause of diseases in her patients and assist them to improve their lives.

She will be working in the clinic seeing family practice patients. She says that her favorite thing is to help patients find the root cause for their illness or disease and help focus on wellness.

She says that her focus will primarily be patients twelve and older, although she looks forward to helping all patients.

She will be bringing different testings and treatments to the table with her practice. That includes advance hormone testing, food sensitivity testing, and gene sight testing which helps find what medicines work best when treating patients with conditions like anxiety and depression. MTHFR testing looks for gene mutations in patients that lead to conditions. She will also be offering advanced stool testing, thyroid management, and male and female bioidentical hormone replacement management as well as 3×4 genetic testing.

In the future, she also hopes to bring PRP, or plasma rich protein, treatments to the practice. PRP is a process of drawing blood from a patient and then spinning it down to pull off the plasma. This has benefits for patients in joint injections to help with cellular regeneration. It is also used for “vampire facials”, a process using micro needling and plasma regeneration. She says that PRP is also beneficial in sports injuries instead of steroids. It helps create regeneration in the body, often allowing it to heal internally and prolong the need for surgery.

She says that she looks forward to offering modern or functional medicine that focusses on the use of supplements, rather than just medication to help patients promote their health and wellness.

In the future, she also hopes to offer sclerotherapy for spider vein treatment for patients. This process helps decrease the appearance or erase those spider veins.

About her move to MCMC, Haugtvedt says that the facility has welcomed her with open arms. The change, she says, will allow her to better her family life by providing her with more family time. While she was not expecting to make the change, she says it all came together and presented her with an opportunity she  was interested in. She wanted more time at home, and even with the time spent on the road, it will even out and be a much better fit for her family.

She also says that she looks forward to meeting new patients and helping them find their inner wellness. She loves what she does. That includes helping patients find the complex answers to change their lives as they deal with illness. Getting to the root problem is important to a positive outcome.

Haugtvedt lives in Burlington with her husband, Chad, who works for BNSF. They have three children ages eleven, ten and nine. Her hobbies include spending time with her family and anything outdoors including hunting, camping and fishing. She enjoys cooking and also repurposing items. She used to have a business called Sweet Repeats that was based on repurposing  items, but now she says she does it just for fun.

“We are excited to have Brittany join our family at MCHC. We originally interviewed Brittany for the ER position we had available. We enjoyed her energy and willingness to learn more for that position. So we had to figure out a way to bring her to MCMC! We love the new services she can offer for our clinic,” said Steph Everett, Administrator/CEO/Foundation Director/PR and Marketing Director Mountrail Bethel Home/Mountrail County Medical Center/Mountrail County Health Foundation.

Skittle Skool

Giving Our Youth the Knowledge to Create a Choose
for Change towards Their Future Paths

Stanley, ND – The Mountrail County Health Foundation, the Stanley Park District and the Stanley High School teamed up again this year to bring Skittle Skool to all SHS students from
7th to 12th Grade.  The focus this year’s theme was:  Blue Jays Show Up For…Myself, My Family, My Friends, My Future.

 Twenty-one presenters addressed the following thirteen topics through creative and interactive activities and conversation:

✓ Stacy Schaffer from 31:8 Project covering “Sexting – Importance of cell phone use responsibility”
✓ Kris Halvorson from the Stanley Police Department and Hillary Burchett from the Stanley Ambulance Service covering “How and When to call 9-11 for an overdose and the danger of Nar Can usage”
✓ Virginia Dohms from North Central Human Service covering “Healthy Dating Relationships”
✓ Michelle Svangstu from Upper Missouri District Health Unit covering “Long term effects of smoking and chewing and how vapping is not a safe alternative”
✓ Abbey Ruland and Tammie Braaflat from the Mountrail County Medical Center covering “Safe Sex, STD’s, HPV and the importance of the HPV vaccine”
✓ Tara Nardacci and Dr. Longmuir from the Mountrail County Medical Center and Gerald White and his team from the Three Affiliated Tribes Drug Task Force covering “Prescription drug abuse and what it can lead to”
✓ Shelly Kinney from Mountrail County Social Services covering “Drug exposure and its effects”
✓ Terry Goldade from Northland Community Health Center covering “The effects of “screens and screen time” on Mental Health”
✓ Brenna Thompson from Pospishil and Associates covering “Suicide, Cutting and Self Harm”
✓ Bob Hayes from Bob Hayes Addiction Services covering “Alcohol Abuse and Addiction”
✓ Stephanie Nishek from Dakota Natural Health Center covering “Importance of a healthy diet for your developing brain”
✓ Pastor Carter Hill from Prairie Lutheran Parish covering “Being cruel is easy: Bullying Online and Off”Stacy Schaffer from 31:8 Project covering “Sexting – Importance of cell phone use responsibility”
✓ Kris Halvorson from the Stanley Police Department and Hillary Burchett from the Stanley Ambulance Service covering “How and When to call 9-11 for an overdose and the danger of Nar Can usage”
✓ Virginia Dohms from North Central Human Service covering “Healthy Dating Relationships”
✓ Michelle Svangstu from Upper Missouri District Health Unit covering “Long term effects of smoking and chewing and how vapping is not a safe alternative”
✓ Abbey Ruland and Tammie Braaflat from the Mountrail County Medical Center covering “Safe Sex, STD’s, HPV and the importance of the HPV vaccine”
✓ Tara Nardacci and Dr. Longmuir from the Mountrail County Medical Center and Gerald White and his team from the Three Affiliated Tribes Drug Task Force covering “Prescription drug abuse and what it can lead to”
✓ Shelly Kinney from Mountrail County Social Services covering “Drug exposure and its effects”
✓ Terry Goldade from Northland Community Health Center covering “The effects of “screens and screen time” on Mental Health”
✓ Brenna Thompson from Pospishil and Associates covering “Suicide, Cutting and Self Harm”
✓ Bob Hayes from Bob Hayes Addiction Services covering “Alcohol Abuse and Addiction”
✓ Stephanie Nishek from Dakota Natural Health Center covering “Importance of a healthy diet for your developing brain”
✓ Pastor Carter Hill from Prairie Lutheran Parish covering “Being cruel is easy: Bullying Online and Off”Stacy Schaffer from 31:8 Project and BCI Agent, Dr. Analena Lunde from the Victims of Crime division covering the topic of how technology influences the mind and how it effects your mental health and beyond.

✓  Al Schmidt from the Berthold Police Department covering the topic of drugs.

✓  Heather Jenkins from the Domestic Violence  Program NWND covering the topic of Healthy Dating Relationships.

✓  Becky Fladeland from Upper Missouri District Health Unit covering the topic of the long term effects of esmoking and chewing and how vapping is not a safe alternative.

✓ Abbey Ruland and Tammie Braaflat from the Mountrail County Medical Center covering the topic of Abstinence and STI’s.

✓ Chris Pulver and Mike Schott from the ND State Highway Patrol covering the topic of Law and Legalities for Teens.

✓ Alyssa Kreutzfeldt from bar 33 Leadership covering the topic of I Choose.

✓ Brenna Thompson from Crossroads Therapy covering the topic of Self Harm.

✓ Sarah Sorenson covering the topic of Be a Daymaker.

✓ Stephanie Nishek from Dakota Natural Health Center covering the topic of Nutrition for the Brain.

✓ National Guard Members doing a team building segment with the students.

✓ Andie Roise teaching the students the importance of yoga and meditation.

✓ Brandi Larson covering the topic of Getting Involved In Your Community.

“We are go grateful to all the speakers that took the time to come talk to our Youth,” states Steph Everett, Mountrail County Health Foundation Director.  “Some of these topics are hard to talk about on a regular basis. So bringing in different faces and voices for the students to hear allows them to hear the topic a bit differently.  We hope last Wednesday made an impact on them.”

New Faces In MCMC PT Department

31 Mar 2021 News

A pair of new faces have joined the staff in Mountrail County Medical Center’s Physical Therapy Department this month. Zachary Mravec and Taylor Augustine, recent graduates from Cleveland State University and an engaged couple, have taken traveling positions that will see them in the facility at least through June with an option to extend.

Mravec is originally from Rocky River, Ohio, having started his career as a licensed massage therapist for seven years. He says that he knew he wanted to be a physical therapist and used the career in massage therapy as a way to pay for the schooling.

Augustine is originally from a small town in Colorado, very similar to Stanley. As an undergrad, she focused on dance and was a professional dancer for ten years in Seattle, Wa. When she went to Cleveland for graduate school, the couple met in the same class.

They have chosen to be in Stanley and North Dakota, saying that it allows them the adventure of travel while working as physical therapists. They have a goal to travel for three years or so. It will enable them to see the country and in the end to better settle down with their finances in place and pay for their upcoming wedding. It also fits into the fact that both say they are a bit of a wanderer, liking to travel and try new things. They also look forward to being together in a setting where they can gain a variety of experience working with outpatient and hospital setting.

Their differences in training and background will also bring new skills to the MCMC Physical Therapy Department, something that department head Heidi Nielsen says she is looking forward to. This will benefit not only patients, but also give Nielsen insight into some specialized areas of physical therapy that she can use well into the future.

Taylor’s focus has been on dance rehabilitation and physical therapy. She has done continuing education and courses that have allowed her to specialize in treatment for performing arts. She is on the registry for doctors for dancers and the only provider currently in the state of North Dakota with that designation.

She also has completed level one of three in another niche specialty for pelvic health. This specialty deals with incontinence, pelvic pain, rehab after birth and pelvic floor issues for both men and women. She says that while physicians may see a patient with a pelvic floor dysfunction, pain or otherwise, not many look for the signs that lead to a different approach. That includes finding that patients with low back pain may actually have a pelvic floor issue.

When it comes to the dance rehab and therapy, she says that she can work with dancers of any age from the young child learning to dance, to the professional dancer, and the aging dancer who still dances recreationally. Well versed in all styles of dance, she says that she can treat all dance styles. That includes helping injured dancers with the rehab necessary to return to dance, as well as helping dancers enhance their performance as they train back to the demands of choreography. For the younger dancers, she says that she can do pointe shoe screenings, as well as helping them with training and safety.

Education, she says, begins with adolescent dancers. She has worked with professional dancers in the past, but her goal is to help young dancers prevent injury with education.

Zach’s background and focus deals with vestibular issues. He spent fifteen weeks in a clinic that focused on those issues including diagnosing and developing a plan of care and aftercare for patients who suffer from those dizziness and vertigo issues. The goal, while seeing a patient in therapy, is to provide them with the information to care for  those issues at home as well.

Beyond that, he says that anything neurological or involving the brain piques his interest. That has included helping patients with concussion issues. He also helps patients return to work and with prework testing. Having worked with workers’ comp patients, he was surprised at how motivated people are to get back to work.

Taylor is involved with the American Physical Therapy Association, a professional network that includes conferences and events to further the education of its members. She has also worked in advocacy, spending time at Capital Hill to address issues.

As a pair, they just became National Park members, starting at Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota with a mission to see most of the national parks.

They are also looking forward to experiencing life in Stanley, getting to know the residents and the community. Taylor says that she enjoys being back in a small town and the community feeling that comes with that. Stanley, they say, feels cozy, welcoming and friendly. For Taylor, she grew up that way and says that it is nice to be back in the circle.

As for the facility, they say that MCMC provides a great working environment. Everyone is approachable and in it for the right reasons, they want to help people. The approach is different than in a large city facility and feels more like why they wanted to work in healthcare.

Zach hopes that eventually they can also start some planning for nursing home residents. With the challenges that COVID has presented to nursing homes, he says they could maybe start with a small balance or dance course or class to increase activity. He would like to take that onto their plates to promote in the facility.

PT Department Head Heidi Nielsen says that she is thankful that the transition went so smoothly as one set of traveling therapists was leaving, this couple was coming in. Although the licensing stalled, it came through at the perfect time.

The skills that both bring to the table are something that Nielsen looks forward to learning more about.

She says that they see quite a few patients with vestibular issues. During her schooling, she says, they got the gist of how to treat those patients, but she did not have the intensive hands on experiences that Zach had in his clinic rotations. She looks forward to refining her techniques and helping patients find the appropriate after and home care, saying that if they can take those skills to home practice the therapists have done their job.

As for Taylor’s pelvic health training, Nielsen says this is something that needs more light shed on it. People have kept their issues quiet and do not like to talk about it. Trained hands and minds can find a way to improve that, saying that “just because it is frequent does not mean it is normal”.

She looks forward to learning from both of them and refining her skills along the way. “It is exciting for me, too,” she said. “Everyone has a different focus and passion. To get to see and learn from that allows others to grown and help patients more”. For MCMC as a rural clinic in a rural community, Nielsen says that “to be able to cover so many more avenues is something you do not typically see in rural care”.

A new Family Nurse Practitioner is starting at Mountrail County Medical Center in Stanley this month, helping to fill a need at the facility.

Jessica Charon, DNP, FNP-C, is originally from Carrington, graduating from Carrington High School. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, graduating in 2014. After working as an RN in Glasgow, MT for three years at a critical access hospital, she moved to Bismarck, where she continued her education and worked as an emergency room nurse at St. Alexius. She graduated in April of this year from the University of Mary with her doctorate of nursing practice (DNP) with a focus on family nurse practitioner (FNP).

Choosing MCMC for the next step in her career, Charon says that she has always loved rural health. Growing up in a small town, she says that practicing in a rural setting allows her to practice medicine in a setting she passionate about. While you see a is little bit of everything, patients also become like family to you. When she graduated, she knew she wanted to stay in North Dakota. Visiting Stanley, she says that she really liked the facility. The flexibility of the position, makes this job a great fit for her family.

Charon started at Mountrail County Medical Center a few weeks ago with her hire date of December 1. She is filling a gap for providers by becoming an exclusive emergency room provider. That means that she will be working eight twenty-four hour days per month. She is currently training with ENP-FNP Rich Laksonen as she prepares to take on her role. She says that with her previous experience she is more comfortable in the role as an emergency provider. She says that she loves coming into work in this setting and the challenge of not knowing what will be coming in the door with each patient. That, she says, keeps you on your toes and makes you learn.

She has signed a three year contract with MCMC and says that she is happy to be there. She points to the working relationships and a great work environment as a breath of fresh air. She credits great upper management on all levels for making that possible. She says that having great management and younger management staff means a more progressive attitude towards health care. Forward thinking and innovative medical care means the facility is doing great things for the community and she looks forward to being part of that.

Signing with MCMC, she says, is giving her the opportunity to fulfill what she sees as her professional long-term goals. She wants to establish a role she can stay in, providing good patient care while becoming more confident in her job. She believes that Stanley is a fantastic place for her to continue her journey. She is looking to certify as an ENP, specializing in emergency care. Following Rich’s training and skills in Stanley is something she believes will allow her to meet those goals.

Her current schedule does not have set days, but rather it is those eight days per month. That could be split over different times throughout the month, depending on facility needs. She says that Rich Laksonen does his days in a stretch, traveling as he does each month. She says that living closer to Stanley allows her to split those days up to meet staffing needs for the facility.

Her husband Benjamin works doing fiber installation and property management in Bismarck. The couple has two children, three year old daughter Kinley and four month old son Lincoln. The couple will continue to live in Bismarck for now. In the off time, the family enjoys traveling, being outdoors, camping and hunting.

“We are very excited to have Jessica join our MCMC family. The minute we met her we knew she would be the perfect fit to round out our team of Providers. We now are fully staffed with exceptionally qualified and caring Providers for our patients. And we look forward to working together as a team to position ourself and start implementing our vision that will propel MCMC to the next level,” says Steph Everett, MCMC Administrator/CEO/Foundation Director/PR and Marketing Director.

Why Should You Mask Up?

23 Oct 2020 News

Mountrail County Medical Center released the following information this week.

With the number of COVID-19 cases continuing to rise, not just in our state, but also right here in Mountrail County, many of us are rightfully concerned. Just this week, Mountrail County’s risk designation changed from “moderate” to “high” risk. We have 96 active cases of COVID-19 in our county alone, as of Monday, October 19, 2020. North Dakota and Mountrail County are seeing higher numbers of COVID-19 than at any time during the previous months of the pandemic.

This has many of us anxious and concerned. We are concerned about our own health, the health of our children, our elderly parents and grandparents, our teachers, our healthcare providers, our friends and fellow community members. We worry about our jobs, whether our daycares will get shut down, whether our children will be able to stay in school, whether we will be able to visit our elderly family members. All of these are legitimate concerns.

Unfortunately, as our numbers of COVID-19 rise, these threats to our loved ones, our jobs, our schools, daycares, and communities rise as well. What can we do to help mitigate these risks? The answer is simple… MASKUP Mountrail County.

Coronavirus is spread by respiratory droplets that are expelled into the air when we talk, breathe, cough and sneeze. A mask acts as a simple barrier to help prevent these droplets from traveling into the air and onto the people around us. There is growing evidence from both clinical and laboratory studies that demonstrate that masks reduce the spray of these respiratory droplets when worn over the mouth and nose.

When we combine wearing a mask with other simple but effective infection control measures such as frequent hand washing, avoiding close contact, regularly cleaning and disinfecting, and staying home when we are ill, we have the power to DRASTICALLY reduce the risk of transmission COVID-19 and the subsequent consequences to our community. We want our children in school, we want to be able to continue to go to work, we want our parents and grandparents healthy. We as a community have the power to keep each other safe and healthy. It starts with you. #maskupmountrailcounty.

New Doctor to See Patients at MCMC

23 Oct 2020 News

Dr. Tracy Tomjack will start seeing patients at Mountrail County Medical Center in Stanley starting on Thursday, Nov. 5.

Originally from Parshall, Tomjack graduated from Parshall High School in 1999. She attended NDSCS in Wahpeton for one year, studying computer programming and then spent two years at Northwest College in Powell, WY, earning an associate degree in photography. She moved on to an undergraduate program at Minnesota State University in Moorhead in exercise science which is when she started looking into medicine as a career. After attending medical school at Des Moines University in Iowa, she did a general surgery internship with UND for one year and a family medicine residence at Big Stone Gap, VA.

She came back to North Dakota and spent three years in family practice in Hettinger before deciding she wanted to specialize and did a fellowship in primary care sports medicine at Geisinger in Wilkes-Barre and Scranton, Pennsylvania. Following that she returned to North Dakota and took a position with McKenzie County Healthcare System in Watford City.

Her practice is primary care sports medicine, focusing on nonoperative orthopedics. That includes a multitude of services including casting, splinting, arthritis injections, helping patients with back or neck pain, concussion treatment, ligaments and tendons. She says that includes any ache or pain along a muscle, bone or joint area.

Working hand in hand with Dr. Joshi she says that is good for patients. She can help expedite the visits as a patient gets ready for surgery or get them on the surgery schedule if needed, as well as helping with postoperative visits.

She also says that she looks forward to offering advanced technology and newer ways to help patients. In addition to injections including steroids and gels, she says that platelet-rich plasma should be available in the next few months. It takes your own blood and spin it down to isolate the platelets which they then inject into the sore spot – joint, tendon, etc. The platelets release growth factors which can help in the healing and pain process. She also says that using ultrasound guidance for injections allows her to look at the injury and provide better diagnostics and treatment. A DO, she says that she also uses osteopathic manipulative therapy, which is similar to chiropractic therapy. While she likes to specialize in the bones and muscles, she wants to look at all the different ways she can help her patients feel better.

Her schedule has her in Watford City on Mondays and Fridays, Tioga on the fourth Thursday of the month and now will include Stanley on the first Thursday of the month. She hopes to start seeing patients in New Town as well, but says that is still a work in progress. To schedule an appointment with Dr. Tomjack patients will call McKenzie County Healthcare Systems.

Adding Stanley to her schedule, she says, makes sense. With Dr. Joshi already established seeing patients here, they work well together but she has a unique niche to add to treatments. She also says that being closer to home is awesome and she likes being able to offer services to patients closer to home. While they may need to travel for surgery, they can have their follow up appointments at home. Stanley also feels, she says, like a hometown crowd, where she knows the people. She also says that small towns deserve good medical care without having to go to larger cities.

Tomjack will also be working closely with the MCMC physical therapy department, saying that the facility and resources available are amazing for a small town. As for the sports side, she says that she looks forward to helping high school athletes get back to playing as soon as they can.

She and her husband, Cameron, are living in Parshall where they are also helping her parents Jan and Greg Boschee on the family farm. Tracy says that she knew she wanted to come back to North Dakota. This is home and she enjoys the rural, country atmosphere. With family here and the farm, they are also able to do some of the farming as well.

Her husband Cameron came from Nebraska with the oil boom as a landman. He lived in Stanley for close to eight years during that time. The couple has been married for about four years.

“Partnering again with McKenzie County Healthcare Systems came naturally,” says MCMC CEO Steph Everett.  “We already had the collaboration and strong working ties with them starting with Dan Kelly being my Preceptor to working with them to bring Dr. Joshi to Stanley.  We look forward in future endeavors of working hand and hand with MCHS to ensure the future of Critical Access Hospitals.”

This article is republished with the gracious consent of the Mountrail County Promoter.

Hearing Dynamics Will Start in Stanley

29 Sep 2020 News

For patients with hearing aid needs or services in the Stanley area, a new service will be available starting on October 6. Hearing Dynamics, formerly The Hearing Aid Co. of Minot, will be utilizing space at the Mountrail County Medical Center Clinic.

Owner Lisa Risovi brings the ability to test hearing in Stanley. She sells Audibel, a Starkey family, hearing device. She can also repair and clean all brands of hearing aids. She says that she is proud to be selling the Audibel brand hearing aids, a USA made product manufactured in Minneapolis, MN.

Born and raised in rural North Dakota, Risovi started working in the hearing aid business with Arlynn Hefta at The Hearing Aid Company from 2013 to 2016. While he continues to own the location in Devils Lake, he offered her the Minot business. With twenty years of other business experience in customer service, she was excited to take on this new venture. Since taking on the business, she has been looking forward to not only serving customers in Minot, but also expanding that business to rural areas.

The Minot office is located in the Renaissance Center. By also expanding to other communities, she says she believes she can reach people in need in not only Stanley but also the surrounding areas. Risovi says that as a company, they have territories. Her territory is from Rugby to the Montana border and north to the Canadian border.

When asked how she connected with Stanley and MCMC, she says that she is friends with Doctors Joshi and Brewster. In conversations, they discussed the opportunity of adding to the services offered to Stanley area patients. She reached out to MCMC and is now renting space as an independent office in the clinic. She will handle her own billings and insurance if applicable, although most insurances do not cover hearing aids.

She will be in Stanley at the clinic two Tuesdays each month, with October 6 and 27 set for dates next month. She takes patients by appointment only. You can call 701-839-8964 to schedule an appointment.

“Hearing services is something we have been trying to get back into our clinic for quite a while,” says Steph Everett MCMC CEO.  “With the rapport already built with Doctors Joshi and Brewster, we are confident that Lisa will be the perfect fit for our patients and the residents of Mountrail County and we look forward to a long lasting relationship.”

This article is republished with the gracious consent of the Mountrail County Promoter.

Ruland Honored As PA Of The Year

27 Aug 2020 News

Mountrail County Medical Center’s Abbey Ruland was named the PA of the Year by the North Dakota Academy of Physician Assistants last week. The award was scheduled to be presented at the organization’s Spring Conference but was cancelled due to the pandemic. It was rescheduled for the Fall meeting, but that too has been cancelled.

Cheryl Ulven of Ray, who served on the board as the head of the scholarship and legislative committees, was in Stanley on Wednesday, Aug. 19 to present the award. Abbey serves on the board as a Public Relations person and had volunteered at their last meeting to help judge the three candidates nominated for the award, unaware she herself was one of the nominees.

Nominations are made by a PA’s peers, physicians, clinic staff or hospital staff. The nominations are then reviewed and voted on by the six officers, eleven committee chairs and three national delegates of the NDAPA Board.

To be nominated, they must be a Physician Assistant who works or resides in North Dakota. The nominator may feel the PA deserves recognition because they provide excellent patient care, are well respected by the medical community as well as patients, and/or are considered to be an asset to the community and the PA profession. They might be someone who has been involved in medical education, dedicated to improving public health by involvement in community education in addition to patient education. They may be involved in humanitarian projects, giving of themselves in service to others above and beyond their normal daily responsibilities.

A nearly unanimous selection by the board, Ruland checks all those boxes based on the letter of nomination by Mountrail County Medical Center CEO Steph Everett.

Abbey started with MCMC in 2013. In 2018 she took a hiatus serving the residents of New Town at the Trinity Clinic. Ulven says that Abbey was her replacement in New Town. MCMC set out  to get Ruland back on staff. The letter says that without her, “the void created in our team without her devoted and kindhearted nature was palatable”. With a provider not fulfilling their contract, they reached out and were lucky enough to get her back in the fall of 2019.

She hit the ground running on her return, stepping back in with her patients, sitting as an active member of the medical staff council, taking Emergency Department call, and filling in for Dr. Longmuir in reviewing and accepting patients for the Swing Bed and Nursing Home program. The letter says, “Abbey is always willing to go the extra mile to make sure our patients are getting excellent community based care”.

She has spearheaded the Quality Improvement process in the Rural Health Clinic. She oversees documentation of care for one doctor, two nurse practitioners and two physicians assistants.

The nationwide opioid epidemic is apparent in our local area, including with patients in and around New Town and the TAT reservation. Although the reservation has built up their capability to treat drug and alcohol use disorders with inpatient treatment centers, there was still a large portion of the population that was not able to get treatment or did not know how to seek treatment appropriately. Seeing this gap in care, Ruland undertook the additional responsibility by completing training to offer Medication Assisted Therapy through the clinic. This is the only PCP driven MAT program within 100 miles.

“Abbey is always willing to go above and beyond the call of duty to serve her patients,” stated Rich  Laksonen, FNP, ENP in the letter. “She’s a pleasure to work with, always willing to lend an ear or a helping hand. Her work ethic, and knowledge of the latest in evidence based care ensure that her patients receive compassionate care close to home, be it through the rural health clinic or emergency department.”

CAH Director and former ER Nurse LaRae Rudolph had this to say. “Abbey has a wide knowledge base and a positive energy and drive in healthcare always going above and beyond using both an individual and/or team effort approach to deliver optimal patient care to whomever is in need.”

Everett said this at the end of the nomination letter. “The bottom line is that Abbey is an esteemed member of our MCMC family and the compassionate community based care we provide here in Stanley is a result of Abbey’s hard work.”

The mission of NDAPA is to promote quality, cost-effective, accessible health care to enhance the health and well-being of the people of North Dakota and to promote the professional and personal development of Physician Assistants.

This article is republished with the gracious consent of the Mountrail County Promoter.

Rosen Place and Bethel Chapel Featured

13 Jul 2020 News
Rosen Place on 8th and the new chapel at the Bethel Home were recently featured in an architectural magazine. This article has some astounding pictures and a lot of information on the construction of our new additions. You may view the PDF of this publication here. Please note that you must have Adobe Acrobat or a similar PDF viewing software installed to view the above link. Alternatively, you may click on the pictures below to read the article.

Working Together To Fill A Need

17 Jun 2020 News

 

When the Coronavirus hit North Dakota, schools closed, and businesses closed or altered their business model. Daycares were impacted and many in Stanley chose to close. This created a challenge for staff at Mountrail County Medical Center. A cooperative effort between Ragamuffins Ranch Daycare and the Mountrail County Health Foundation worked to fill that need over the last two months.

MCMC Administrator Steph Everett says that the process started on March 23. She began receiving texts from staff expressing their concerns about what they would do as they faced closing schools and daycares. She said that she reached out to Carol Maurer at Ragamuffins Ranch who opened their arms to the staff’s children.

Everett says that each request was met with a “we’ll figure it out” response that was amazing. As they began the conversations, Everett says they had no idea how many staff members would need daycare. Based on the texts from staff, she knew it would be more than just a few.

As they received the guidelines from the state regarding daycares, working together the daycare was ready to start taking students by the weekend of March 27. Working hand in hand, they were ready for the first children on March 30.

Ragamuffins Ranch Daycare owner Carol Maurer says that working on the Bright and Early curriculum and achieving the Step 3 designation made the process easy. The assessments and training she says that by the blessing of God helped them be prepared to take on the challenges.

She says they were already set up to the new standards and guidelines set up by the state for childcare facilities in response to the Coronavirus. That includes the way they use spaces in the daycare, their sanitizing processes and the separations for age groups they already had in place.

They already were separated to eat in smaller groups and play in smaller groups and different areas. The babies, toddlers and older children already interact in their own groups on a regular basis.

Maurer says that the biggest challenge was to bring in children that didn’t know them or their environment. She says they wanted to make sure that each child felt safe and comfortable during this stressful situation. They wanted them to feel at home and happy, knowing this was a safe place to be.

The children coming into the daycare have moms and dads that work on the frontline during this virus fight. Life can be stressful, and children often pick up on that stress.

The staff put their heads together, even knowing it might not be easy, but knew they could do it and come out for the better. Maurer says they really stepped up to the plate and did a great job.

As they got ready to add new children to their groups, Ragamuffins reached out to their parents. For some, they were already planning on keeping their children home with schools and businesses closing or reducing staff. Others offered to keep theirs home to make room, saying that it was important to take care of first responders’ families. She says she gives credit to those families for giving the okay to use their spots.

With some of their kids not coming because of the virus, Maurer said they missed their kids. It was hard emotionally on everyone, but at the end of the day they came back and grew a whole new family with these new children.

As for helping out staff at the medical center, Maurer says that they knew the needed the help and they were ready to do it. It was amazing to watch, she says, and now as the two months come to a close, they will be missing these children that will be going back to their former providers.

Looking back now, Maurer says that everything was a learning curve with stepping stones at the right time with the right help to set up this difference to succeed. She said, “I do it this way and it works. Sometimes you pray and ask God to show you the way. My heart is put into this and we have invested so much of ourselves.”

Everett says that for the two months Ragamuffin met their needs, they were a lifesaver. Eight families with eleven children were helped during this time. Mountrail County Health Foundation, along with grant funds from the NWND Community Foundation helped cover some of the costs.

While many families will be returning to their previous providers this week as daycares resume operations, a few will be staying at Ragamuffins Ranch enjoying the new relationships they have formed.

Steph Everett says that they just knew at the beginning they had to do something to help their staff. All of this was so new to medical facilities. They had heard about the first stories with coronavirus coming from a nursing home in Washington. The focus became on what if it happened here.

“For medical staff, there is no choice but to be at work. The last thing we wanted was for staff to have to make a hard choice. We needed them here, for Health Centers never shut down. Some of our Staff made shifts from their clinic positions to helping at the nursing home, for they were needed there to ensure our nursing home residents were cared for,” said Everett.  “The partnership with Raggamuffin Ranch allowed us to take one huge stressor off our staff. Especially through this, maneuvering through unchartered territories over the last few month,” Everett said.

The two month partnership between the medical center and Ragamuffin Ranch is just another example of small towns pulling together to help each other through these challenging times. It is also an example of meeting critical needs through collaborative effort.

This article is republished with the gracious consent of the Mountrail County Promoter.

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