PEND OREILLE SURGERY CENTER ANNOUNCES BUSINESS REORGANIZATION

Restructuring Will Position POSC for Even Greater Opportunities

Pend Oreille Surgery Center, LLC has successfully completed a year-long reorganization. The reorganization was the result of collaborative efforts of POSC board members and management, accountants, attorneys and banking professionals.

POSC has provided high-quality, cost-effective outpatient surgical care to residents of Bonner County and surrounding areas since opening in 2009. Changes in the way health care is provided and reimbursed led POSC to consider what needed to be done in order to survive and thrive in a changing health care environment.  

The reorganization involved splitting POSC into two distinct entities. POSC, LLC will continue to provide quality, cost-effective outpatient surgical care. The center remains owned by local physicians who care for their patients at the center as well as the local hospital.

A new entity, POSC Holdings, LLC, now owns the building and land. Separating the real estate from the operations provides an opportunity for investors to become involved in a business that, prior to reorganization, could only involve physicians who intended to use the facility. Successfully executing these changes has positioned POSC for growth and success in an uncertain health care environment.

POSC would like to thank the following businesses for their assistance throughout the process:

·         Washington Trust Bank in Sandpoint (Allen McClelland)

·         Berg & McLaughlin Attorneys in Sandpoint (Bill Berg)

·         Christoffersen Accountancy in Salt Lake City (Mel Christoffersen)

·         Sandpoint Title Insurance in Sandpoint (Tom Williams)

The reorganization wouldn’t have been successful without their confidence in the center and commitment to POSC’s success.

Please contact Kris Sabo at the contacts below for more information.

Work:  208 265-8194

Email: kris@poscllc.com

Chamber Welcomes Longleaf Wilderness Medicine

The Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce is excited to welcome Longleaf Wilderness Medicine (LWM). Initially founded due to the need for emergency medical training after Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast of the US, Jason Luthy, LWM’s owner, and Dr. Lynn Yonge collaborated to design LWM to provide usable medical education for the Gulf Coast in times of limited access to medical services. The initial LWM trainings taught a form of medicine called Wilderness Medicine.

Wilderness medicine is the practice of providing medical care first aid in environments with limited resources and access to emergency medical services. The wilderness medicine curriculums taught by LWM provide detailed information about the prevention, assessment, and treatment of injuries and illnesses. All courses teach up to date current evidence-based treatment practices.

Whether you’re an individual who travels or lives in remote environments or a governmental agency, non-profit organizations, medical professionals, humanitarian workers, guiding businesses and schools that provide hikes for their students and scouts. Their courses are all encompassing.

Courses provided include Wilderness First Aid, a two day (16-hour) certification course for individuals who take short trips into remote environments or individuals who are responsible for providing initial medical care for individuals or groups. Wilderness First Responder, nine day (76-hour) certification course, is the standard for individuals working in remote environments like backcountry guides/instructors, governmental agents working in remote environments and individuals traveling long distances from emergency medical services. Medical Electives for Medical School Students,  a four week elective for senior medical school students interested in remote medicine. LWM also offers custom courses ranging from 45 minutes to multiple days designed to meet the specific needs of individuals or organizations.

The goal of LWM from the beginning has been to provide accessible, quality, education to communities and business to better prepare people to respond to emergencies. Jason Luthy studied education and began working in the outdoor education industry.  He’s worked throughout the US teaching individuals aged from young to old for populations from at-risk youth, college students, to veterans. For the past 7 years, he’s worked with Outward Bound throughout the US as a field instructor, course director, trainer, and program developer.

‘I’ve focused my professional interest on providing adult education, and went to graduate school to earn a M.S. in Experiential Education,’ explained Jason. ‘The degree provided me an intimate understanding of how to design educational environments to be highly productive and beneficial for the learner. Throughout my experience leading wilderness expeditions I built my knowledge and skill in providing remote medicine to be prepared to treat injuries and illnesses.’

Jason holds certificates as a WEMT (Wilderness certificate plus the National Registry EMT certificate), Advanced Wilderness Life Support (AWLS), and he is a candidate for the Fellowship of the Academy of Wilderness Medicine (FAWM) from the Wilderness Medicine Society. In addition to running LWM Jason has used his experience and training to work and volunteer with ambulance services, in emergency rooms, and as a volunteer with the local search and rescue.

Please help the Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce welcome Longleaf Wilderness Medicine to the Chamber and wish them continued success. Mention this article and receive 20% off of the September 7-8 Wilderness First Aid course. For more information, call 208-274-3596, visit www.longleafmedical.com, email info@longleafmedical.com, or connect with them at www.facebook.com/longleafmedical. 

Chamber Welcomes Northridge Property Management

The Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce is excited to welcome Northridge Property Management. This Sandpoint family owned and operated business started in 2003 by two lifetime and third generation Sandpoint locals, Mike Robinson and Jeremy Brown. They offer vacation and long-term rental management, HOA (Home Owners Association) management and vacation home watch and property protection services, serving all of Bonner County including Schweitzer, Dover, Sagle and Hope.

‘We offer a high level of personal service and go above and beyond to make sure our homeowners real estate investments are well cared for,’ explained Jeremy. ‘We are available 24/7 for emergencies from our home owners and vacation guests.’

Northridge Property Management offers a wide range of services for vacation home and investment home owners that can be customized to fit every need at a fair price (rental management fees are 100% performance based). They are dedicated to protecting their client’s real estate investments.  Proudly, they stand as Sandpoint's only VRMA - Vacation Rental Managers Association affiliated professional vacation rental management company.

“What we always try to think of is if we owned the property, how would we want it managed,” said Jeremy. “We manage several homeowners associations that we also manage vacation rentals within so, we obviously have to do a great job to keep the owner of the vacation rental property happy, and we also have to make sure that all the other home owners in the HOA are happy and not disturbed by the rental.  We definitely have a lot to lose if we did a poor job.”

Currently, they are offering commission discounts for the 1st year for any new vacation rental and 1 free Month of Home watch inspections with a 12 month service agreement.

Please help the Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce welcome Northridge Property Management to the Chamber and wish them continued success. For more information, call Jeremy at 208-290-6847 or Mike at 208-290-6531, email info@northridgepropertymanagement.com, visit www.northridgepropertymanagement.com or connect www.facebook.com/NorthridgeVacationRentals.

In photo, left to right: Carol Warren, Jeremy Brown, Representative George Eskridge, Kate McAlister, Mike Robinson, Tyler Tennison and Peggy Shadel.