When faced with an emergency medical situation, most people do not stop to wonder if they will be able to see a doctor that is specifically trained to handle their emergency. If your child falls out of bed and breaks their arm in the middle of the night, you want to see an orthopedic surgeon. If your spouse has an appendicitis attack at 2am, you want a surgical team to be available. Unfortunately, in many rural communities, emergent situations like this mean a ride in an ambulance or helicopter to Spokane or another city to provide the appropriate care.

At Pullman Regional Hospital, a decision was made many years ago that our patients would receive specialty care when needed, no matter what time of day or night. Because of this, the hospital helps offset the costs of the following specialty care by making sure that these physicians are available when you need them.

These services include:

  • Orthopedics
  • Pediatrics
  • Urology
  • Surgery
  • Psychiatry
  • Anesthesia

The cost to the hospital to ensure that these services are available to you and your loved ones is more than $2.0 million per year.

The care you need…when you need it

To say Kameron Kinkade is an athlete, is an understatement. When he’s not on a high school field, a court, or a track, he’s en route. When a spiral fracture to his ankle threatened to bench him permanently, it was Dr. Ed Tingstad of Inland Orthopaedics Surgery & Sports Medicine who helped coach Kameron back to Pullman Greyhound sports’ superstar status. Kameron’s number one fan—his mother Michelle—wouldn’t have had it any other way. “I trust Dr. Tingstad completely,” says Michelle. “If we didn’t have immediate access to an orthopedic surgeon, well, I don't even want to think about how much differently Kameron’s care would have been.”