PINEDALE — For more than a century, those in need of medical care in Sublette County and surrounding areas were forced to drive more than 70 miles to get to a hospital.
Mary Bluemel told Cowboy State Daily she suffers from obsessive-compulsive, bipolar and borderline personality disorders. Bluemel had traveled 90 minutes by car to St. John’s Hospital in Jackson to receive treatment. She said she has 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 milestone that's been 100 years in the making.
Sen. John Barrasso and Rep. Harriet Hageman joined Gov. Mark Gordon in Pinedale on Thursday to cut a ribbon to celebrate the grand opening of the hospital.
“It’s amazing what’s been accomplished, it’s awesome,” Bluemel said.
Sublette County was Wyoming’s only county without a hospital, posing a challenge to generations of locals seeking medical care. The new $73.8 million facility includes a 40,000-square-foot, 10-bed hospital. The complex also has 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 out about $15 million in wages to employees per year. Patients will benefit from the availability of mammograms, blood transfusions and cardiology care among other healthcare services offered.
Hospital board chair Tonia Hoffman became emotional while addressing the crowd, saying the occasion is a “beautiful day for Sublette County.” Barrasso echoed that sentiment, saying the facility will have far-reaching impacts throughout the state.
“This is going to help the community in so many ways,” Barrasso told 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 said. “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 breast cancer awareness nonprofit Harvest 4 Pink. She told Cowboy State Daily the hospital’s mammogram offerings will allow more women in the area the opportunity to seek early detection and fight back against cancer.
“As a breast cancer survivor, it means a lot,” she said. “It means that I have quality care, it’s close by, they know my story, they know what I need and I am so excited for it.
Robbins added 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 said. “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’re going to be detecting problems earlier,” the senator added.
Hageman told Cowboy State Daily she knows how direly her constituents have needed the medical care offered by the new hospital. She added she was happy to travel from Washington, D.C. to be a part of the proceedings.
“It is an exciting event for this community,” she said. “They have been wanting this and working on this for many, many years so this is a day of celebration.”
Gov. Gordon awarded a challenge coin to Interim Hospital CEO Bill Patten at the event. The governor told Cowboy State Daily he is glad to have the facility in a location where roads can sometimes become hazardous to travel on in the winter.
“This was the last county, and in some ways maybe the most remote county, that did not have a hospital,” Gordon said. “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 said 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.”
The county, he said, has historically had a small tax base, making major building projects a challenge. It wasn’t until a local energy boom that the area could grow to a size that could sustain such a hospital.
Bell specifically highlighted the efforts of Hoffman in getting the project across the finish line. Without her, he argued, the project would have never received the funding needed.
Bell added the people of Sublette County are also to thank for the hospital’s opening as they voted in favor of an additional tax mill, which increases property taxes by one dollar per $1,000 of a property’s value.
“It was a big job,” Bell said. “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 hospital attendees will be “blown away” by the building, 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 said.
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.
Hospital leaders also delayed the facility’s projected opening of July 1 due to the withheld funds. The temporary dent in their finances, they argued, would jeopardize the hospital’s ability to retain staff and maintain certain federal reimbursements.
The hospital and county reached a resolution over the issue in mid-June.
Bell also explained the project faced pushback from community members who felt the development was too big.
“I think they don’t think we have the people, the density, for whatever reason,” Bell said. “They are worried about ‘well, what if it fails? What’s going to happen to it?’”
“I respect their opinions,” Bell added. “Personally, I appreciate people who ask good, honest questions.”
Jackson Walker can be reached at walker@cowboystatedaily.com.
