Medical Wyoming Medical Center

Donate Life Month: WMC nurse/kidney recipient raises flag over hospital

By Kristy Bleizeffer Apr 3, 2018

April is National Donate Life Month, a time set aside to encourage Americans to register to become organ, tissue and eye donors while honoring donors who have already given.

'Respiratory season' prompts visitaton restrictions to pediatrics

By Kristy Bleizeffer Dec 18, 2017

Winter is flu and RSV season. To protect our youngest patients, we have implemented visitation restrictions for our pediatric unit.

Casper Civic Chorale sings Christmas carols to WMC patients

By Kristy Bleizeffer Dec 18, 2017

In what has become an annual tradition, about 20 carolers from the Casper Civic Chorale sang traditional Christmas carols to patients and staff Thursday evening. “It’s very rewarding. We know that several patients are in stressful situations or they are in pain. Just to bring a smile to their face is very rewarding,” said Gary Gasser, Chorale president.

Stopping by Wyoming Medical Center during flu season? Be a good visitor

By Kristy Bleizeffer Dec 6, 2017

Each year, the flu contributes to more than 200,000 hospitalizations and as many as 49,000 deaths in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Visitors are asked to protect the health of their hospitalized friends and family by practicing the basic principles of infection prevention.

Paper names Rachelle Allmaras Donaldson, R.N., one of Wyoming’s top nurses

By Kristy Bleizeffer May 10, 2017

Three Wyoming Medical Center nurses were named Wyoming's Top Nurses in the Casper Star-Tribune's special section, “Celebrate Nurses.” We are sharing our interviews with Jennifer Gallagher, Rachelle Donldson and Sarita Reeves throughout the week in celebration of Nurses Week 2017. This is our interview with Rachelle Allmaras Donaldson, a nurse on our medical floor.

Meet our 2016 Employee of the Year: Medical nurse Terry Brown

By Kristy Bleizeffer Apr 27, 2017

When her manager told her she’d been picked Wyoming Medical Center Employee of the Year, Terry Brown didn’t believe it. The Medical Unit nurse started naming off her coworkers one by one. “I just work with so many great nurses. And IV. And therapy. And respiratory. You just can’t do this without everybody on the team,” said Brown who has worked at WMC for 18 years, all of them on Medical. The unit has always felt like home, and her coworkers like family.

Germ-killing robots help protect patients from infections

By Kristy Bleizeffer Apr 11, 2017

UV light disinfection is the latest advancement in the arm’s race against Healthcare Associated Infections (HAI). As hospitals up the arsenal in new chemicals and cleaning techniques, germs adapt and become harder to kill (similar to how bacteria become resistant to antibiotics.) The IRS 1140m UV Light Disinfection system destroys the DNA and RNA micro-organisms need to reproduce. Wyoming Medical Center now employs this system in our never-ending effort to provide the safest, highest-quality of care to everyone who walks through our doors.

Heart Month: Hospital implements new CPR training program to keep skills sharp

By Kristy Bleizeffer Feb 1, 2017

To help improve patient care and safety, Wyoming Medical Center is implementing the Resuscitation Quality Improvement® Program, a new training approach to maintaining CPR skills in the healthcare setting. We are the first hospital in the state to implement the program.

How serious is the norovirus outbreak? 7 questions with Mark Dowell, M.D.

By Kristy Bleizeffer Dec 15, 2016

It’s often called the stomach flu or food poisoning. It can ruin a business’ reputation and strip the cheer from the company Christmas party. It is the scourge of daycares, nursing homes and classrooms. It is norovirus, and according to a press release from the Wyoming Department of Health, it is spreading through Casper and Cheyenne.

How do bacteria become resistant to antibiotics? 7 questions with infectious disease specialist Mark Dowell, M.D.

By Kristy Bleizeffer Nov 14, 2016

In America, at least 23,000 people die every year from infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Another 2 million become sick from resistant bacteria .Antibiotic use (or misuse) is the No. 1 factor leading to antibiotic resistance. That’s why the CDC designated Nov. 14-18 Get Smart About Antibiotics Week. Here, Mark Dowell, M.D., answers common questions about antibiotic resistance.

Sepsis Awareness Month: Shining light on an illness ‘more common than heart attacks, deadlier than stroke’

By wyomingmedicalcenter Sep 6, 2016

Sepsis isn’t caused by a particular bug, virus or bacterium. Rather, it is your body’s toxic response to infection. While your body’s immune system was designed to fight off infection, it sometimes goes into overdrive and begins to attack your body. Many infections can lead to sepsis, but pneumonia and infections of your abdomen, kidneys or bloodstream are more likely to cause it than others.

Summer Safety Series | Mosquitoes, ticks, deer flies can spread infections while feasting on your flesh

By Kristy Bleizeffer Jul 1, 2016

Something to remember while planning your summer picnic with family and friends: Mosquitoes, ticks and deer flies are hoping to make a picnic out of you. Bug bites aren’t just itchy and annoying. A man in Big Horn County died last year in an outbreak of tularemia that sickened 22 people. Here’s a look at the infections these blood suckers could spread after puncturing your skin with their flexible probing mouthparts this holiday weekend.

Summer Safety Series | Should I avoid Zika areas if I want to get pregnant? 7 questions with Mark Dowell, M.D.

By Kristy Bleizeffer Jun 15, 2016

The Zika virus is carried by a mosquito closely related to the carrier of yellow fever, and it has been shown to cause alarming birth defects in newborn babies. So far, it’s been reported in Africa, the Caribbean, and areas of South and Central America. Do we, in the great northern state of Wyoming, have anything to worry about? Here, infectious disease specialist Mark Dowell, M.D., answers seven questions about Zika basics.