Supporting Long-Term Care in Our Community

On August 20, our community had a strong showing of attendees at the Ivinson Hospital District Board of Trustees meeting to voice support of Ivinson’s involvement in bringing more long-term care options to the Laramie community. I am truly moved by this engagement and appreciated hearing the stories from caretakers, family members, and loved ones who are seeking more long-term care options for our elderly neighbors.

At Ivinson Memorial Hospital, we take our promise of being Trusted Partners in World-Class Healthcare to heart. As your community hospital, we are proud of the care we provide to you and your family. Whether your baby was born in our Women and Children’s Center, you were cared for in our Emergency Department after an accident, or your knee was replaced in our Surgery Center, the providers, nurses and staff at Ivinson went above and beyond to ensure you received the best care possible.

While many rural facilities are scaling back costly hospital services such as behavioral health and maternal care, Ivinson is investing in them. These are lifeline services our community relies on and we are proud to extend that care to surrounding communities. Just as our partnership with Children’s Hospital Colorado brings neonatal and pediatric experts to local families, we continue to find ways to keep specialized care closer to home. That commitment to our community is why Ivinson has been consistently ranked among the Top 100 Rural and Community Hospitals. None of this would be possible without our incredible team at Ivinson and the patients who trust us with their care.

Being a trusted partner extends beyond our hospital walls. We support local nonprofits in their work to feed, house, clothe, transport, educate, and care for our community. We sponsor youth athletics so that cost does not limit participation, ensuring every child has the chance to play their best. We encourage our employees to serve through our volunteer time-off program. We also partner with local colleges to help educate the next generation of healthcare providers — because as a rural community, we know we cannot afford to lose high-quality professionals who care for us.

Every three years, we lead a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA), gathering data and listening to feedback from community partners about the most pressing health issues in Albany County. The most recent assessment identified two areas of greatest need: social and economic factors, and behavioral health. This included challenges like access to healthy food, transportation, housing, childcare costs, substance use, and suicide prevention. Over the past three years, we have collaborated with more than 30 organizations to address these concerns. We will begin a new CHNA later this year, and community voices will again guide the priorities that shape our hospital’s goals.

While long-term care was not identified as a priority health need of the last assessment, your voices at the recent board meeting were heard and we take your feedback to heart. Our Board of Directors, who guide Ivinson’s direction and decisions, is in the early stages of learning from other hospitals and long-term care providers. This process will take time as we explore what role Ivinson can play. We remain deeply invested in this community and the challenges it faces, and we believe that by working together, we can find solutions to the issues that affect us all.