Hospital board is the life's blood for Banner Health Washakie Medical Center

WORLAND – One of the several entities which help the Banner Health Washakie Medical Center provide the newest state-of-the-art care for the community and travelers alike, is the hospital board.

The hospital board has been the life's blood for the hospital for many years. The hospital building itself belongs to Washakie County and the board members are appointed by the county commissioners. The commission choses people for the board who will make good decisions as the stewards of the tax payers money allotted to the hospital.

"I think I have been on the board 13-14 years. There has been a lot of change obviously, a lot of change. Nothing has changed as a board, with our goals, because our goal is to see that the brick and mortar is kept up and in good repair, that the facility is capable for our lessee (Banner) to run their business. In short that's about what we do and then we communicate with the county commissioners," Banner Health Washakie Medical Center Hospital Board chair Kip Mathison said.

Part of making sure that the facility stays in good working order is to discuss and approve or disapprove any and all construction to the facility, remodeling of the facility and/or maintenance to the facility. Any construction ideas or needs are taken to the board by Banner Health and the board discusses with Banner the who what where when and why's of the proposed project. After the board discusses the project, they vote to approve the construction or not. Big projects are then taken to the county commissioners for final approval but small projects only need the board's approval, Mathison stated.

Mathison, board vice-president Dean Carrell and board member Gil McEndree stated that without Banner the hospital would not be the state-of-the-art facility that it is. "We all need hospitals from start to finish. I think what we have put together here is quite phenomenal, for a small community. To have a facility that is state-of-the-art that is used by not just locals but people traveling through town. We are lucky to have what we have and with Banner hopefully they continue to expand their services. Banner has been outstanding. This could not have been done without Banner. It just shows you what kind of relationship the county and Banner; has coming together in partnership," they said.

McEndree added, "You see a lot of small communities of our size and even some larger that do not have the services that we have and look what happens. People have to travel and they [hospitals] become a clinic for larger facilities that are outside the area."

Mathison added that the hospital could not have been up graded as it has been without increased taxes if it wasn't for Banner.

The hospital board meets once a month and the board hears reports from many different Banner staff members, from Banner Health Washakie Medical Center Plant Operations Manager Steve Wiecki to Banner Health Washakie Medical Center CEO Jay Stallings.

After each report the board asks questions to better understand the day-to-day working of the facility. "I think we need to understand that Banner is healthy, so that's part of their reports and just as a board we need to understand the running of the facility. We don't have to be doctors, nurses or anything else but we have to understand what they are doing to protect the patients, to protect the community, to run the facility. There is a lot to it, but that's what the meetings are for and then we have our own reports and we have our own things that we want to accomplish and that's done at the meetings," Mathison said.

Not only is the board a liaison between the hospital and the county commissioners but also a liaison between the community and the hospital. "Being county appointed to the hospital board, we have a lot people call us and tell us the positive and the negatives. So we are actually the go-between between the public and the hospital a lot of times. We are the voice of the people saying what medical procedures and practices we want here," McEndree stated.

Mathison added, "I think our podiatry and cancer practices are because of what Gil said. We had a lot of input on that from the community and then it just went forward from there. We get phone calls and stopped in the street and we listen to the community."

When asked why they serve on the board, Carrell, McEndree and Mathison stated that everyone in the community needs medical attention at some point in their lives and serving on the board helps make sure that the entire community has access to state-of-the-art hospital care.

McEndree added, "I want to make sure that we as citizens are provided professional affordable healthcare."

Mathison stated, "It's a feel good board because you do have accomplishments, you know you are doing a very necessary service for the community."

Other members of the board are: Treasure Marlene Bower, Beth Voss, Secretary Franko Romero and Sheri Gunderson.

This is the second in a series looking at organizations associated with Washakie Medical Center.