Boca Grande Health Clinic mid-season report
BY MARK DRISCOLL
Here we are in March already, and I can’t believe how fast the months are flying by. I hope everyone is enjoying Boca Grande, especially now that the weather is finally treating us to warmer temperatures and sunshine.
It’s been a very busy season so far at the Clinic, and each month we seem to be setting new records.
So far this season, we have had 2,822 patient visits from October through January. To put that in perspective, we had 5,334 for all of last year. If we continue at this pace for the remainder of the season, we could surpass the full year’s number of visits in just one season.
• January was our busiest month ever, with 882 patient visits. Many days during the last couple of weeks of February we’ve had 50 patient visits a day. That’s a lot for a three-doctor clinic!
• This season, we have provided 713 immunizations – more than all of last year.
• X-rays are up more than 30 percent over last year.
It’s important to note that the majority of these visits are our primary care patients and Island employees. People sometimes ask why we need three physicians at the Clinic – and this is why. More residents and Island workers are using the Clinic. There are a variety of reasons for the uptick in patient visits:
• We’ve increased our visibility, to help the community become more aware of the services that are available on the island.
• More and more people are using the Clinic. We’ve had a steady increase of people under the age of 65 using the Clinic for their primary care.
• We are seeing more island employees, not just from The Gasparilla Inn, but also from other local employers.
Another reason for the increase in people seeking care at the Clinic is the fact that there are a lot of viral diseases this year. Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that a mixture of respiratory viruses is circulating right now, including common coronaviruses (other than SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19), respiratory adenovirus, and parainfluenza (which is distinct from influenza).
As busy as we are, we continue to offer same-day access for the most part, and that remains our goal. For anyone who has visited the Clinic lately, you know that we’re operating in tight quarters, but we’re doing our best to always provide high-quality, compassionate care.
This will continue until the Clinic of the Future becomes a reality, when we can look forward to having new facilities, services and technology that will allow our physicians to take even better care of you.
Looking to the future
For example, we saw a young teen in our office last week who needed a head CT scan. The Clinic doesn’t have that technology right now. We couldn’t send this teen to an off-island outpatient imaging center because they don’t image children. The only alternative was to send this teen to sit in an ER for many hours, possibly all day, just to get a CT. This is just one of many reasons we are building the Clinic of the Future, where imaging options like CT and ultrasound, and more lab testing capabilities, will be available without having to leave the island.
The Clinic is here for you, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
On behalf of the whole team at the Clinic, we thank you for trusting us with your health. We look forward to continuing to live our mission of providing personalized primary and same-day (urgent) healthcare to Gasparilla Island residents and workers.
We are here when you need us! A physician is on duty after hours, weekends and holidays by phone. Call (941) 964-2276 for an appointment or to follow instructions to speak with a physician for after-hour care.
