Health Care

HELPING PEOPLE STAY HEALTHY

Family Health Services expands to the Wood River Valley

BY MIKE MCKENNA PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK, EYE ON SUN VALLEY

The goal of Family Health Services (FHS) is pretty simple: Keep people healthy.

It’s why they are extremely thankful that the St. Luke’s Wood River Foundation helped them expand their services to the Wood River Valley and open a new location in Bellevue.

“We want to provide affordable medical, mental health and dental visits as well as pharmacy costs so that we can help people maintain health,” said Aaron Houston, the CEO for FHS. “We want to help people stay healthy.”

For more than 30 years, FHS has been providing affordable and accessible health care for folks from throughout south-central Idaho. They have locations across the region, from Burley to Kimberly to Twin Falls, and now Bellevue.

FHS knew there was a need for their services in the Wood River Valley because their Twin Falls and Jerome locations saw lots of patients from Blaine County. The Jerome FHS

facility was already so busy serving that growing community they usually have wait lists and had to turn down patients daily. That’s one of the big reasons it was so important for FHS to open a location in Bellevue. It not only relieves pressure on their entire system, it makes it easier and “If it weren’t for the St. Luke’s more cost effective for local people to make visits. “We are putting our services where the people are, “Houston said. “We are making things so af-

Wood River Foundation fordable that everyone can have more preventative health care. We don’t want people ending up in the ER with something that could have been caught there’s no way this would have earlier or having a toothache turn into a $20,000 dental bill.” FHS had been trying to open locally for years, happened.” but the deceivingly high average income levels in Blaine County made it extremely difficult to get grant funding. In fact, Houston had already been shot down by about 75 foundations and hope had been lost. But that’s when the St. Luke’s Wood River Foundation

stepped in to save the day. They generously paid for a remodel of the building on Main Street as well as for new equipment and five years of rent.

“If it weren’t for the St. Luke’s Wood River Foundation, there’s no way this would have happened,” Houston said.

FHS is considered a community health center and accepts patients of any age or income status. Their Bellevue location offers everything from helping with coughs and colds, to dental and mental health issues, to offering affordable pharmaceuticals. These services combine to improve the overall health of the community they serve.

One of the keys to success for FHS is that they pride themselves on having great provider retention. The doctors, nurses and staff at FHS stay the same, which helps patients feel more connected and comfortable.

“People want to see their doctor. Not just because they have to, but because they want to see a familiar face, someone they know and trust,” Houston said.

Having more folks get regular checkups and tests helps assure that many minor issues don’t become major problems. The more preventative we can be with health care, the less likely we are to tax our health care system, or increase the taxes or insurance monies needed to subsidize it.

“We are at the grassroots,” Houston said, “helping the community be healthier.”

St. Luke’s Wood River Medical Center is the only hospital within a 75-mile radius of Ketchum, Sun Valley, Hailey and Bellevue. SLWRMC maintains 25 inpatient beds with approximately 440 employees and 45 physicians on active staff. Services range from OB/GYN, Pediatrics, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, General Surgery, Neurology, Orthopedics, and more as well as ENT, Gastroenterology, Urology, Cardiology, Oncology and more through visiting specialists. SLWRMC has a full range of diagnostic laboratory testing, X-ray, CT, EEG, MRI as well as state-of-the-art 3D mammography at the Women’s Imaging Center. SLWRMC is part of St. Luke’s Health System which has multiple hospital campuses and a broad mix of diagnostic and clinical sites that together serve southern Idaho and eastern Oregon. Air St. Luke’s transports patients in critical situations via helicopter, fixed wing or ground transport Air St. Luke’s is used in case someone needs to be transported via ground, rotor or fixed wing to a larger or specialized health care system outside of our rural community. It is the region’s most comprehensive medical transport program, operating as mobile critical care units with advanced lifesaving equipment and technology.

As a Critical Access Hospital with a level IV trauma designation, St. Luke's Wood River Medical Center can stabilize and transport those needing complex or specialized care. Starting at just $60/year (or $1000 for a lifetime membership) any family can sign up for the service and have peace of mind.

For more information on membership, please go to

stlukesonline.org.

CLINICS Family Health Services

621 N. Main St., Bellevue (208) 725-3145 www.fhsid.org.com

South Central Public Health District

117 E. Ash St., Bellevue (208) 725-3145 www.fhsid.org.com

Sterling Urgent Care

507 S. Main St., Hailey (208) 788-4122 sterlingurgentcare.com

PHYSICAL THERAPY Peak Physical Therapy

507 S. Main St., Hailey (208) 788-6312 peakphysicaltherapy.net

CHIROPRACTIC Gwen VanDooren Chiropractic

717 Buttercup Rd., Hailey (208) 720-3023 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Hailey Chiropractic

513 N. Main St., Ste. #2, Hailey (208) 788-3211

PHARMACY Atkinsons’ Drug Store

91 E. Croy St., Hailey (208) 788-5090

Luke’s Family Pharmacy

101 S. Main St., Hailey (208) 788-4970 lukespharmacy.com

Albertsons Sav-on Pharmacy

911 N. Main St., Hailey (208) 788-6713

Valley Apothecary

201 N. Washington Ave., Ketchum (208) 726-26RX (2679)

HYPERBARICS Hyperbarics of Sun Valley

613 N. River St., Hailey (208) 720-4603 hyperbaricsofsunvalley.com