PINEDALE — For over a century, those in Sublette County and surrounding areas had to travel more than 70 miles to a hospital.
Mary Bluemel told Cowboy State Daily that she suffers from obsessive-compulsive, bipolar, and borderline personality disorder. Bluemel had traveled 90 minutes by car to St. John’s Hospital in Jackson for treatment. She stated that she had waited a long time for medical care close to home.
That reality has arrived with the opening of Sublette County Hospital, the county’s first hospital, a 100-year milestone.
Sen. John Barrasso and Rep. Harriet Hageman joined Gov. Mark Gordon in Pinedale on Thursday to cut the ribbon for the hospital’s grand opening.
“It’s amazing what’s been accomplished, it’s awesome,” Bluemel told the reporter.
Sublette County was Wyoming’s only county without a hospital, posing a challenge for generations of residents seeking medical attention. The new $73.8 million facility features a 40,000-square-foot, 10-bed hospital. The complex also includes a 44,000-square-foot long-term care facility with 40 beds and a 10-bed memory care unit.
The hospital is expected to create 20 new jobs in the area and pay approximately $15 million in wages to employees each year. Patients will benefit from the availability of mammograms, blood transfusions, and cardiology care, among other healthcare services provided.
Tonia Hoffman, chair of the hospital board, became emotional while speaking to the crowd, describing the occasion as a “beautiful day for Sublette County.” Barrasso echoed the sentiment, stating that the facility will have far-reaching consequences throughout the state.
“This is going to help the community in so many ways,” Barrasso stated to Cowboy State Daily. “This is long overdue.”
Patients’ Patience
Sublette County Hospital Chief Medical Officer David Burnett highlighted the patient impact of the new facility in a conversation with Cowboy State Daily, saying he is excited to see the positive outcomes that the new hospital will bring to the area.
Having such a highly capable hospital in the area, he said, will allow those under his care to more regularly seek crucial medical guidance.
“It means quite a bit more to be able to provide local services, not only for patients, but for their families as well,” Burnett told me. “It eliminates unnecessary travel, it keeps patients closer to home and we are excited about the opportunity to provide excellent and outstanding quality patient care that can be exemplary throughout the state.”
Nicole Robbins is a breast cancer survivor and the founder of the Breast Cancer Awareness Nonprofit Harvest 4 Pink. She told Cowboy State Daily that the hospital’s mammogram services will enable more women in the area to seek early detection and combat cancer.
“As a breast cancer survivor, it means a lot,” she told me. “It means I have quality care, it’s close by, they know my story and what I need, and I’m very excited about it.
Robbins stated that she has already encouraged over 70 women to schedule mammograms at the hospital.
‘A Day of Celebration’
As a doctor for 24 years and the husband of a breast cancer awareness advocate, Barrasso told Cowboy State Daily he could personally relate to the excitement being felt throughout the county.
“This is a historic day here in Sublette County for this beautiful facility,” he told me. “It’s hard to take a day off work to go to Jackson or go to Rock Springs, if you’re in Pinedale, to have a mammogram.”
“They’ll be detecting problems earlier,” the senator explained.
Hageman told Cowboy State Daily that she understands how desperately her constituents have needed the medical care provided by the new hospital. She added that she was delighted to travel from Washington, D.C. to attend the proceedings.
“It is an exciting event for this community,” she told me. “They have been wanting this and working on this for many, many years so this is a day of celebration.”
Governor Gordon presented Interim Hospital CEO Bill Patten with a challenge coin at the event. The governor told Cowboy State Daily that he is pleased to have the facility in an area where winter roads can be hazardous.
“This was the last county, and in some ways maybe the most remote county, that did not have a hospital,” Gordon told reporters. “When you have to travel 100 miles to Rock Springs, sometimes roads are snow covered, icy, closed, so then you have to get on a plane, not always the safest option.”
100 Years in The Making
Dave Bell, a member of the Sublette County Hospital District Board, told Cowboy State Daily Thursday’s proceedings were “100 years in the making, literally.”
“There’s an article in the Pinedale roundup literally 100 years ago about how we need a hospital in Sublette County,” he told me via phone. “It’s just taken a long time to finally get here and it’s taken an enormous amount of work by the hospital board.”
He stated that the county’s tax base has historically been small, making major construction projects difficult. It wasn’t until the local energy boom that the area grew large enough to support such a hospital.
Bell singled out Hoffman’s contributions to the project’s success. Without her, he claimed, the project would never have received the necessary funding.
Bell added that the people of Sublette County are also responsible for the hospital’s opening because they voted in favor of an additional tax mill, which raises property taxes by one dollar per $1,000 of property value.
“It was a big job,” Bell explained. “There were a lot of things that had to happen to get to this point and there’s been a lot of people in the community who really have just hung in there to finally get here.”
He added that hospital visitors will be “blown away” by the structure, which includes a long-term skilled nursing facility and a 40-bed nursing home facility.
“The voters of Sublette County ought to be commended for their foresight to get this done and to support it through thick and thin,” Bell told the crowd.
Stumbles
The hospital faced a fair number of challenges prior to its grand opening that threatened the completion of the project. The Sublette County Commission withheld $2.7 million in grant funds for about three weeks after the hospital expressed doubts on whether it could provide the agreed-upon facilities within the proposed timeline.
Due to the withheld funds, hospital officials also pushed back the facility’s planned July 1 opening date. They argued that the temporary financial setback would jeopardize the hospital’s ability to retain employees and maintain certain federal reimbursements.
The hospital and county reached an agreement on the issue in mid-June.
Bell also stated that the project faced opposition from community members who believed the development was too large.
“I think they don’t think we have the people, the density, for whatever reason,” Bell said in response. “They are concerned about what happens if it fails. “What will happen to it?”
“I respect their opinions,” Bell added. “Personally, I appreciate people who ask good, honest questions.”
