BOISE, Idaho — This story originally appeared in The Idaho Press.
Health care providers around the Treasure Valley have been preparing for the closure of Saltzer Health clinics this week.
Intermountain Health, the Salt Lake City-based company that owns Saltzer Health clinics in Idaho, announced plans in January to sell or cease operations by March 29, citing financial concerns. The provider has more than 400 staff in the Treasure Valley.
“Saltzer Health is still in discussion with other organizations about purchasing some services,” said Glen Beeby, a spokesperson for the company, in a March 21 email. “As those talks are ongoing, we cannot comment on specific details.”
Beeby said the company is “in constant communication with our patients about ways to continue their care with as little disruption as possible. Caregivers and patients will be informed about those changes once they are finalized.”
The company’s provider page indicates where many plan to work next and how patients can make appointments. Employers include St. Luke’s, Saint Alphonsus, Primary Health, and a new obstetrics and gynecology clinic, Grace Women’s Health, being opened by one of the physicians in Nampa.
PRIMARY CARE NEED
Staff from Primary Health and St. Luke’s said they are anticipating an increase in primary care patients due to the Saltzer closures.
“I do expect to see an increase in patients needing that level of ongoing care,” Primary Health Medical Group President Brian Windau told the Idaho Press in February.
“Saltzer had tens of thousands of (primary care) patients that will continue to need services, whether it be sticking with their providers where they land, or seeking care elsewhere.”
Primary Health had spoken with several soon-to-be-former Saltzer physicians who were interested in migrating their practices to Primary Health, Windau said. As of Monday, Saltzer’s page lists three doctors who will be working Primary Health in April.
Windau estimated that a given physician may see around 1,600-2,000 patients per year, but it will take a year or two to see whether those patients follow the doctor to their new workplace or choose another physician.
“You may be a patient now, but you don’t need services for another year from now,” Windau said, “so we’re not going to understand where you are until you have another appointment.”
When St. Luke’s staff heard about Saltzer shuttering, they performed an analysis on the space they had to absorb any physicians, said Jason Bronner, a doctor and service line medical director for St. Luke’s.
“We didn’t create more openings, but we want to make sure that if they have an interest in St. Luke’s, we entertain a discussion with them to see if it’s a good fit,” Bronner told the Idaho Press earlier in March. As of Monday, the Saltzer provider page showed six physicians heading to a role at St. Luke’s, one of which was at a location in McCall.
Bronner noted that every St. Luke’s clinic in the vicinity of where Saltzer operates is accepting new patients.
Overall, Bronner said, “the demand for primary health providers is super, super high given all the growth in the Treasure Valley. So we are doing our best to recruit to help support that, and also adding different team members, because we don’t think we’re going to solve the primary care provider problem with physicians alone — there’s just not enough of them.”
That means adding positions such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants, he said.
Saltzer’s provider page showed 13 physicians heading to Saint Alphonsus locations in the coming months. The hospital did not respond to an interview request for this story.
MORE RESOURCES
Saltzer Health has a frequently asked questions page which includes information about transferring medical information.
The company has selected Datavant, a third-party vendor, to handle patient records for the next 10 years, and patients “don’t need to rush to get these records before March 29,” Beeby said.
To obtain medical records after March 29, people have three options: (1) calling 1-855-821-0591; (2) writing to Centralized Release of Information, 500 Eldorado Blvd, Broomfield, CO, Building 4; or (3) emailing saltzerARC@imail.org.
Christine Myron, a spokesperson for St. Luke’s, said the health system had seen an increase in the number of people using its MyChart system to request virtual, same-day appointments and get prescription refills ahead of an appointment to see a new provider.
“It’s out there as an option if people need that very near-term care, and to fill a gap,” Myron said.
This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press, read more on IdahoPress.com.
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