By Kerry Drake For The Wyoming Medical Society The number of people experiencing a mental health crisis who are a danger to themselves or others has been skyrocketing every year in Wyoming. So has the cost of involuntarily hospitalizing these patients. State lawmakers and mental health care officials combined their efforts in 2015 to find […]
Category: Wyoming Medicine Magazine
The State’s Safety Net
Wyoming State Hospital Provides Mental Health Services for The State By Tom Lacock Wyoming Medical Society Rich Dunkley has had time to hang pictures on the wall of his new office but little else, less than three months after taking the job as the superintendent of the Wyoming State Hospital in Evanston. Dunkley got his […]
Mental Healthcare Needs On The Rise in Wyoming
Sharon Pendlebury of Cheyenne Regional Medical Center’s Behavioral Health Services poses at her facility. By Tom Lacock Wyoming Medical Society More and more clients seek mental health services, which means the costs to the state also increase. However, finding two people who agree on the reasons is difficult and makes finding solutions just as hard. […]
The Oral History of WINhealth’s fall into receivership
By Tom Lacock Wyoming Medical Society Nearly nine months after it officially entered a rehabilitation receivership, the question of WINhealth and what led to its demise has been discussed in physician lounges and board rooms around the state. On Oct. 21, State Insurance Commissioner Tom Glause filed a rehabilitation receivership petition in district court in […]
Ezdan Fluckinger and his family pose at their bakery in Torrington called, The Bread Doctor. By Tom Lacock Wyoming Medical Society Ezdan Fluckinger is a lot of things and he isn’t about to let the initials “MD” define him. After serving as a doctor in the southeast Wyoming community of Torrington (population: 6,800) for 16 […]
Legislative Session to Commence in Jonah Building as Capitol Undergoes a Facelift By Tom Lacock Wyoming Medical Society CHEYENNE – Old habits will be put on hold for a few years as the State Capitol in Cheyenne undergoes a large-scale renovation, which will keep it from hosting the state’s annual legislative sessions until 2018 or […]
From Farmboy to Physician – Hiser Named 2015 WMS Physician of The Year
By Tom Lacock – Wyoming Medical Society CHEYENNE – “I’m still basically a farm boy,” Wes Hiser says as he leans back in his office chair, feet extended and legs crossed. Here sits the Godfather of the specialty outreach clinic in Wyoming in a dress shirt and brown Ariat boots — with no embroidery to […]
Patient Centered Medical Homes Popping Up
The Blue Cross Blue Shield PCMH model is shown above. By Tom Lacock Wyoming Medical Society CHEYENNE – While the concept isn t new, the high profile afforded to Patient Centered Medical Homes (PCMH) by the Affordable Care Act is. PCMHs are being embraced by practices that say they have done this work for years, […]
Direct Primary Care Begins to Take Hold in Wyoming
Kristina Behringer, MD stands in the exam room of her office in Cheyenne. By Tom Lacock Wyoming Medical Society CHEYENNE — In an industry so dominated by insurance companies, a form of primary care without insurance administration is beginning to gain popularity as two more physicians have recently opened Direct Primary Care (DPC) practices in […]