Idaho School District’s New Healthcare Plan Excludes Pend Oreille Surgery Center

The Lake Pend Oreille School District’s new contract for healthcare through the North Idaho Health Network does not cover services from the Pend Oreille Surgery Center in Ponderay, according to a River Journal report.

The new contract also does not cover services from independent nurse practitioners. Based in Coeur d’Alene, North Idaho Health Network is not an insurance program, but rather a consortium of healthcare providers chosen by physicians and hospitals in Idaho who pay a membership fee to belong.

These professionals are the exclusive providers under the Blue Cross plan selected by the school district. Under the plan, the network makes decisions about which providers are “in-network.” Ambulatory surgery centers are not currently allowed to join.

Mark Savarise, MD, a surgeon who is part-owner of Pend Oreille Surgery Center and a member of NIHN, said the procedure at the surgery center is “exactly the same operation” that would take place in the local hospital. He also pointed out that a colonoscopy costs “at least twice as much” to be performed at local hospital Bonner General.

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