WMC leadership earns national recognition

WORLAND – Banner Health Washakie Medical Center has received the Community Star award from the National Rural Health Association, specifically highlighting the leadership of Banner Health Washakie Medical Center CEO Jay Stallings and chief nursing officer LeGay Naseath.

Stallings explained to the hospital board during their monthly meeting Thursday evening that Wyoming Department of Health’s Kyle Cameron nominated the hospital and specifically Stallings and Naseath after several visits to the facility. He stated that Cameron is responsible for the FLEX (Medicare rural hospital flexibility) program and all the rural hospitals in the state. “There is only one in the state of Wyoming and it was Washakie Medical Center. This references the extraordinary culture of the people that are here. I could not be more proud of the people that I have an opportunity to work with. I absolutely love this place and the people and they are amazing,” Stallings said. “I want to celebrate it with our team because they are such an amazing group and they are the ones that really have earned this and I really do mean that. They are amazing people,” he added.

Banner Health Washakie Medical Center was recognized for this award Thursday. According to powerofrural.org, “Community Stars is an electronic publication that is released on National Rural Health Day each year.  Those featured in the book were nominated by a member of their State Office of Rural Health (SORH), a community member, or peer.  Each Community Star profile is a shining example of their generosity, service, and dedication to the people who call rural America home.”

The publication states that when Kyle Cameron was on a site visit at Banner Health Washakie Medical Center, a 25-bed critical access hospital in Worland, she was so inspired by the culture Stallings and Naseath had fostered that she nominated them both as 2018 Community Stars.

A press release stated, Stallings has been Washakie Medical Center’s CEO for more than four years, and he has been with Banner Health since 2003. His direct executive responsibilities developed a 30-year operations agreement in the Wyoming community, which led to the building of a new hospital with state-of-the-art technology to provide diagnostics and care for the communities of the lower Big Horn Basin. Prior to being the CEO, Stallings was responsible for the master campus-planning and development of the Banner Desert/Cardon Children’s Medical Center, with executive responsibility over significant campus infrastructure improvements, the expansion of the campus, as well as administrative clinical business lines and logistics. He also led the Banner Energy Team and developed the Banner Think Green environmental resource management program.

Naseath celebrates her third year as Washakie Medical Center’s CNO. During her time, she has been recognized as a top 10 percent leader in the Banner Health system based on employee satisfaction surveys with a score of 96 percent in the Leadership Effectiveness category; implemented “Shared Leadership Team,” including successful implementation of patient information binders, lunch and learns for suicide prevention, inspirational notes to patients on breakfast trays and more; exceeded facility budgeted targets in 2017; supported teams in the renovation and new build of Washakie Medical Center; and more.

Chartis Center for Rural Health recognized the hospital as one of the 2018 top 100 critical access hospitals earlier in the year. The two awards along with many others recently received creates incentive for the hospital, Stallings and Naseath to continue working toward raising the bar for exceptional healthcare and to continue to excel at the culture created of kindness, respect, trust and safety for their patients.