GREAT FALLS — Park Place Transitional Care and Rehab cut the ribbon on Montana's first long-term ventilator and tracheostomy unit this week, eliminating the need for patients to travel out of state for specialized care.
Cameron Tuttle, Director of Operations for Sweetwater Care, said Montanans previously had no in-state options for long-term ventilator care.
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"Now, if they need to be on a ventilator for a long term, there's no placement for those patients here in Montana, as I mentioned earlier. So we have to send those patients out of state to keep them on a tracheotomy and ventilator system. So now we have the treat and vent systems here," Tuttle said.
Timothy Rock, Regional Clinical Director for Sweetwater Care, explained how the ventilator technology functions for patients who cannot breathe independently.
"It breathes for you. Essentially, something has happened to you where you're compromised or not able to breathe on your own. Mechanical ventilation does that for you. And so the machine works as you're through an airway and into your lungs, and helps you, your lungs function," Rock said.
"Here with our patients, we need fantastic nursing care, respiratory therapist, therapies as an occupational physical. And we also need great volunteers to support through this," said Director of Nursing Sara Rock.
Rock emphasized that Montana's recreational lifestyle makes the unit particularly valuable for trauma patients.
"All of Montana is really recreational based, and there's a lot of, traumas and accidents that happen. And, this just gives a net to keep our people here. To make sure that we're, we're, keeping them close to their families and and their culture and their, the Montana heritage," Rock said.
Park Place officials said if you have family or loved ones currently receiving care out of state may now have the option to bring them back to Montana.
