Logan Health is opening a new ear, nose, throat and lung clinic with the introduction of the hospital’s first otolaryngology surgeon, Dr. Anna Knisely.
The multidisciplinary clinic also hosts pulmonary and sleep medicine services, an effort to centralize specialties that often directly impact or relate to one another. Knisely will see both adults and children at the clinic.
She explained the rationale for the centralized services by using an example of one of the most common health issues she treats, which is chronic sinusitis, long-term inflammation of the sinuses. When the inflammation goes untreated or uncontrolled over time, it can cause inflammation in the lungs, she said.
“We have good data that shows that a certain subset of those patients then go on to develop adult-onset asthma,” she said. “So, it’s all kind of connected. Having people who are pulmonologists, medical specialists, and sleep doctors for obstructive sleep apnea – there are a lot of anatomic causes for those things, and together we can help diagnose those patients, and when needed we can surgically address their sinuses, their sleep apnea, things like that.”
Integrating a multidisciplinary lens is something Logan Health is seeking to do more of, Nicki Cain, service line director for the hospital, said.
“The modernization of that patient centered approach is, you come here, you park once, and we’ll make sure that your problems are taken care off,” Cain said.
Prior to Logan’s new clinic, the hospital relied on a partnership with Glacier Ear, Nose & Throat to see patients. Glacier ENT will continue to provide services at Logan’s facilities.
“In addition to the excitement and the idea of a multidisciplinary clinic, as we partner with our Billings Clinic team and work to provide statewide rural coverage, this was a really exciting opportunity,” Dr. Cory Short, the hospital’s chief medical officer, said.
Knisely’s medical career has taken her all over the globe, including immersing in an advanced fellowship training in rhinology and skull base surgery in Australia and opening up an ENT clinic in Juneau, Alaska. Born and raised in Libby, where her parents still live, Knisely has had her eye on Kalispell for a long time and jumped at the opportunity when she saw the job listing. For her, the return to northwest Montana is an exciting new chapter in her career – one that she’s already begun to dive into.
“It’s exciting to build something and build a team and get to know the community needs,” Knisely said. “We went to meet with some of the pediatricians the other day just to say ‘Hey, how can we collaborate? How can we work through talking about some protocols for things?’ Hopefully that’ll make things a little easier for everyone involved.”
Logan Health Ear, Nose, Throat & Lung is open and Knisely is accepting patients, located at 350 Heritage Way, Suite 2300, inside the “Rock.” For more information, call the clinic at (406) 751-5455 or visit the clinic’s website at www.logan.org/location/logan-health-ear-nose-throat-lung/.
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