Idaho Falls Community Hospital celebrates one-year anniversary during Pandemic

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) - After only being open for three months, Idaho Falls Community Hospital was faced with the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Chief Operating Officer, Casey Jackman says the hospital is evolving every year with more staff and facilities, but tackling COVID-19 is one of their top concerns.

"Going through the pandemic has really kind of aligned all of the hospitals to work together and to share information and share supplies and stuff like that," Jackman said."You don't want to have to go through a pandemic to see this, but being able to see the collaboration that's out there is amazing."

That collaboration has been key as they receive COVID-19 and other patients from various hospitals in the area.

Idaho Falls Community Hospital is also working to become a Level 3 Trauma Center.

The following is a press release from Idaho Falls Community Hospital:

Idaho Falls Community Hospital hit 365 days of service to the community on Wednesday. During its first year of operations, the hospital built a team of 462 caring individuals, proudly treated more than 10,000 patients and navigated a global health pandemic.

“We are so grateful to everyone who has trusted us with their care over the past year,” said Casey Jackman, COO of Idaho Falls Community Hospital. “We opened Idaho Falls Community Hospital because we wanted to give our community another choice for emergency and acute care. Over the last 12 months, we helped families deal with middle of the night health scares, set broken bones, and recover from more serious illnesses. We have successfully given our friends and neighbors another choice for their care and, as we look ahead to 2021, we are excited to expand our services and provide our community with more cutting-edge treatment options.”

Idaho Falls Community Hospital was designed to treat almost all of the community’s healthcare needs. It has a 24-hour emergency department, comprehensive in-patient services, a 16-bed intensive care unit, three operating rooms and an interventional cardiac imaging center. Over the past year, the hospital has participated in seven clinical trials, maintained a less than five-minute wait time in the emergency department, started a Therapeutic Plasma Exchange clinic, performed neuro, vascular and thoracic surgeries and provided in-patient nephrology and oncology services.

Currently, Idaho Falls Community Hospital is working on obtaining a special stroke and STEMI (a specific type of heart attack) designation, as well as becoming a certified Level III Trauma Center. This certification
would ensure the hospital could provide prompt resuscitation, emergency surgery, and intensive care services for the community.