Plans made to meet casino vistor's health needs

People wanting to visit the new French Lick Springs Resort Casino weren't the only ones anticipating the casino's opening last Friday. The local health care community has been preparing for the new casino and its possible effects for about a year.\nTo meet the possible demands the casino brings, Bloomington Hospital of Orange County, which is based in Paoli, Ind., has established an ambulance station in French Lick, Ind., that operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week and will have another one in nearby Orleans on duty 12 hours a day. Bloomington Hospital is also planning to open a new clinic that will initially be housed in the Habig Building located at 567 S. Maple St. in French Lick.\nL. Gene Perry, chief executive officer of Bloomington Hospital of Orange County, said the hospital began to consider the possible impacts of the casino a year ago. He spoke with officials at Floyd Memorial Hospital in Floyd County, Harrison County Hospital in Corydon and Dearborn County Hospital in Lawrenceburg -- all Indiana communities with casinos. From their experience, he concluded that the casinos didn't affect the hospitals except for the ambulance and emergency department.\nPerry hired a new ambulance director with 25 years of experience and planned new ambulance stations in French Lick and nearby Orleans. The French Lick station has operated since February. \n"The new station in French Lick cuts 15 minutes for us to get the patient back to the hospital in Paoli," Perry said. \nThe increasing traffic after the opening won't add to that time because all other vehicles have to yield to the ambulance, he said. Bloomington Hospital in Orange County also has a full-time ambulance helicopter with crew at the hospital.\nOther health care agencies have done less to plan for the expansion of population in the valley. \n"We haven't talked about it, though we should," said Joe Crandal, a nurse at the Orange County Health Department.\nJanie Millspaugh, administrator of Comprehensive Health Care in Paoli, a nonprofit health care clinic, said the agency opened a French Lick office three years ago with two physicians, but one is part-time. The organization is planning to add two physicians next summer for any increasing demand for health care the French Lick casino causes. \n"We don't expect the demands would increase too much because most people are just passing by or stay at the hotel for two or three days. If they get a cold, they might just wait and go back to their own physicians in their hometowns," Millspaugh said.\nAlthough a 10 percent to 15 percent growth in population is expected in the town within five years, Perry said he is "confident that we can take care of all the people in our community."\nPreparations to meet mental health needs are less advanced than preparations for treating physical problems, health care providers said. While gambling addiction could become a problem in the community, it's not seen an immediate concern. \n"We are just watching what is going to happen," Millspaugh said. \nProblem gambling and addiction might not be identified until six months to a year after the casino opens, Millspaugh said.\nAccording to Indiana state law, part of the revenue from the casino admission tax must be paid to the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration's Division of Mental Health for the prevention and treatment of addictions to drugs, alcohol and compulsive gambling. The Division of Health is required to allocate at least 25 percent of the funds to the prevention and treatment of compulsive gamblers.