POWELL — There is no such thing as an emergency room drive-thru, but that didn’t stop a Powell woman from making her own.
At 3 a.m. Saturday, 43-year-old Nicole Suhr drove a vehicle through the emergency room entrance of Powell Valley Healthcare. The vehicle made it almost 20 feet inside the building through a double set of automatic glass doors.
Once inside, Suhr decided to leave, but struggled to do so. After multiple unsuccessful attempts to extricate her car, she backed out of the building and escaped to the hospital’s parking lot.
By 3:30 a.m., Suhr has been arrested in a nearby parking lot. She was taken to the Powell Valley Healthcare Emergency Room (through another entrance) for a medical check before being transported at the Park County Detention Center in Cody.
Damages Done
Powell Valley Healthcare spokesman Jim Cannon said Suhr’s drive-thru caused around $20,000 worth of damage, and that thankfully, nobody was hurt in the early morning incident.
“We are hoping to have a temporary door in place so that people can access the entrance,” he said. “For full replacement of both sets of doors, we are anticipating three to five weeks.”
Cannon said this isn’t the first time the hospital’s glass doors have been damaged by allegedly intoxicated drivers. He recalled a similar incident about 15 years ago.
“A man who was driving under the influence of alcohol drove his pickup into the entrance of our main clinic building,” he said. “He stated at that time that he was trying to get to the ER.”
The glass door destroyed in that incident was replaced.
Powell Valley Healthcare isn’t planning to add an emergency drive-thru, despite the occasional demand for one.
Facing Felonies
Suhr faces felony charges of property destruction and attempted aggravated assault and battery, along with misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence of alcohol, reckless driving and leaving the scene of an accident.
In her initial court appearance Monday morning, Suhr was apologetic and said the crash was a failed suicide attempt. Her bond was set at $10,000 cash or surety, and her trial has been scheduled for Feb. 7.
The doors of the emergency room at Powell Valley Healthcare after a car drove through them in the early morning of Jan. 27, 2023. (Courtesy EMT Geoff Hovivian) 
The emergency room entrance at Powell Valley Healthcare is boarded up while waiting to be repaired. (Andrew Rossi, Cowboy State Daily)
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
