Havre, Montana – Northern Montana Health Care (NMHC) would like to reiterate to the Hi-Line community that there are currently no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Montana or Hill County at this time. There are however, several high risk exposures in the immediate area. NMHC is setting up an incident command center to deal with the challenges this presents to our community.
At this time, NMHC is asking the community to use the Emergency Department at Northern Montana Hospital for life threatening conditions only. This will free up resources to be used for the ongoing situation of COVID-19.
Due to a limited supply of COVID-19 testing kits in Montana, only people with high risk exposure will be tested at this time. If a person is experiencing a fever, dry cough, sore throat, stomach issues or nasal secretions, you are advised to treat your symptoms with Tylenol, Motrin and over-the-counter cold medicines. If you are unable to manage your symptoms at home, your first contact with healthcare professionals should be by phone. NMHC is asking people to call the Emergency Department at NMH at (406) 265-2211 and ask for the AD on shift, prior to coming to the Emergency Department. At that point an assessment will be made and you will be given directions how to proceed.
The most important measure people should take is to self-isolate. Quarantining yourself and any exposed family members at your home will help to reduce the spread of this illness.
More information can be found at the Centers for Disease Control (CD) website at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html.
“Having Bill as our Receptionist at NMCC ensures that visitors will see not only a smiling face, but their business will be handled in a professional, caring manner”, stated Christen Obresley, NMCC Administrator and VP of Regulatory and Community Services for Northern Montana Health Care (NMHC). “He also does announcements for us throughout the facility, and our residents enjoy hearing his friendly voice inviting them to activities.”
Bill is also very active in the community of Havre. He volunteers within NMHC as well. As part of the announcement from the High Five Club at NMHC on Monday, Bill was presented with a special logoed jacket. Nominations are now being sought for the next recipient.
The “C.A.R.E.” Award was started as part of NMHC’s Customer Service Group, “The High Five Club”. C.A.R.E. stands for Compassionately Achieving Remarkable Excellence. The purpose of this bi-monthly recognition award is to acknowledge employees who have served at NMHC in an exceptional manner by exemplifying outstanding service through his or her work, and consistently exhibiting a positive and supportive attitude. Employees at NMHC nominate their fellow employees for this award.
Customer Service is important to Northern Montana Health Care. “Being the healthcare provider of choice” is part of their mission statement. Taking the time to recognize excellence in their employees is one of the ways they try to achieve this goal.