Gottsche welcomes new therapist

WORLAND – Worland Gottsche welcomed new outpatient orthopedic therapist Sherman Skelton to their family. Skelton started with Gottsche Aug. 23.

Born and raised in Thermopolis, Skelton originally had planned a different future for himself and initially started majoring in biology but an event occurred which completely changed his plans. "Right after high school I took an EMT class in Thermopolis and ran on the ambulance crew and worked in the emergency room. It was then; there were a few patients that I saw in the ER who had had previous injuries. One particular patient had a stroke and then I saw him later in the community after he had gone to physical therapy. I was just amazed about how much he had improved from the time we saw him come off the ambulance, near death at that point, then seeing him in the community functioning more normally and returning back to the things he enjoys. That's when I decided that I wanted to do something in therapy," Skelton said.

Skelton enrolled in a PTA (Physical Therapist Assistant) program at Central Wyoming College in Riverton soon after.

After college Skelton worked in a variety of places with the majority of his time in Powell. He worked for a physician-owned orthopedic clinic for 10 years before Gottsche purchased the clinic and then two more years for Gottsche. He moved back to Thermopolis after his wife, who went to medical school, got a job working for Red Rock both in Thermopolis and Worland.

Living in Thermopolis and working in Worland requires a 30-minute commute both ways but the drive is a drive that Skelton enjoys. "I enjoy the drive, you have some time to kind of organize your thoughts for the day and the same at the end of the day, reflect on the day and the patients that you saw and what you want to do differently," Skelton said.