Star Valley Medical Center

History

Often called quotThe Star of All Valleysquot by early pioneers Star Valley is surrounded by the Salt River Mountain Range in Western Wyoming Settled in 1878 the Valleys health care roots started with hardy pioneer physicians who practiced from their homes or small offices

DrGeorge West who practiced in the Valley for 43 years was one of the first doctors in Star Valley arriving in 1904 He regularly operated on patients in the kitchen of his home The first hospital other than DrWests home was brought about by the LDS Church in Salt Lake City The old Tithing Building located on the corner of Washington and Second Avenue site of our present Afton Fire Station was converted for this purpose

For many reasons this hospital location was short lived and the second hospital was then located downtown above where the Ford Theater is currently located on the west side of Washington Street Drs David Beal and Orson Trealor had their clinics here DrBeal practiced in the Valley from 1920 1935 and DrTrealor from 1929 1970

Dr Samuel Worthen arrived in Star Valley in 1935 shortly after the death of DrBeal He began his own hospital clinic downtown across from DrTrealors on the east side of Washington Street above the location now occupied by Galloway Heating Then in the early 1940s DrWorthens father started construction on a small hospital in Afton on the corner of Adam St and Fourth Avenue With great expense and sacrifice by the Valley citizens the west and south wings of the hospital were completed in October 1944 and the hospital was sold to the LDS Church DrWorthen was called to military service in 1941 and returned in 1945 to continue his practice At this point in time all of Star Valleys medical service was centralized into this hospital

Pictured Above in Second Picture 19502000 Doctors Trealor Worthen and Perkes Dr Worthen and 2 nurses and nurses at the old hospital

In the early 50s construction on the north and east wings of the hospital were started and were completed in July 1956 At this point in time DrOrson Perkes arrived in Star Valley and practiced along with DrsTrealor and Worthen Dr Perkes has the distinction of being the longest practicing physician in Star Valley he is now in his 54th year and seeing patients on a regular basis

After DrWorthens death and DrTrealors retirement DrPerkes was the only physician in the Valley between 1970 1977 As medical procedures advanced the hospital had served its purpose and in 1973 Lincoln County formed a special hospital tax district The North Lincoln County Hospital District provided funding for health care services and once again the citizens of Star Valley unified to build our current 15 bed facility Medical services were then centralized to the new site in November 1980 and Intermountain Health Care IHC continued in the administration of the hospital

DrAllen Carter joined the medical staff in July 1986 followed by Drs K Paul Head and Noel Stibor in July 1989 Drs Martha Hageman the Valleys only female doctor and Donald Kirk joined Star Valley Medical Center in 1989 In the mid 1990s the residents of the Valley then determined a need for a longterm care facility and the need to expand medical services to the north Valley area

The Alpine Family Clinic became a reality in 1995 followed by the Star Valley Care Center Due to generous contributions from the people of the Valley State grants and County aid a new 24 bed Care Center opened adjacent to the hospital in October 1997 Then in October 1999 Intermountain Health CareIHC who had managed the operations of the medical facilities in the Valley since 1973 announced plans to discontinue the management contract with Star Valley Hospital Instead of floundering and losing vital services for Valley residents the North Lincoln County Hospital District Board of Trustees made the decision not only to maintain the existing hospital but to move forward with improved medical services

Pictured Above in Third Graphic 2000Present Care Center former Star Valley Hospital and the Current Medical Center Entrance

And move forward they did Under the direction of new CEO Steve Perry the employees started from scratch just like a new business One of the first major changes involved a name change The old Star Valley Hospital and Care Center signs were retired and Star Valley Medical Center became the encompassing name for exciting opportunities for growth and expanded services

In its first 2 12 years Star Valley Medical Center grew beyond expectations Added services and physicians as well as an increase in volume of medical care has once again brought the citizens of quotThe Star of All Valleysquot to a unique opportunity to unite in building a new addition to its medical facility to meet the diverse needs of its patients

DrKenneth Cobbs a full time certified Orthopaedic Surgeon was added to our staff in April 2001 and DrScott Bender a full time certified General Surgeon was added in June 2001 They became the first specialists to reside in the Valley

On August 212001 the registered voters of the North Lincoln County Hospital District voted approval of a 25 million Bond Issue towards construction of a new 39000 sqft hospital and renovation of the current facility into physician clinics The voter turnout was overwhelmingly in favor by a 75 quotYesquot vote The Wyoming State Land and Investment Board approved a SVMC grant request to fund this new construction and renovation project and ground breaking was held on April 152002 Construction was completed and the official dedication of the new facility took place on Friday June 6 2003

Immediately upon the move into the new facility renovations to change the old hospital into the physician clinics began On April 12th 2004 the new physician clinics were occupied by the Star Valley Family Physicians Dr Carter Dr Head Dr Stibor Dr Hageman Dr Kirk and Dr Bennett as a central office Also Dr Cobbs Orthopaedic Surgeon and Dr Bender General Surgeon moved into the east wing of the Medical Office Building With the departure of Dr Cobbs in February 2005 doctor Alvin Forbes Summit Orthopaedics and Teton Orthopaedic Doctors Champa Yost and Skene filled the void until the arrival of Dr Brian Tallerico in August 2006

Respiratory Therapy department was established in June 2006 with addition of Michael Ford RTT David Shrader MD PulmonaryInternal Medicine specialist joined the professional staff in April 2007 The Sleep Lab was established in June 2007

January 12 2008 proved to be a sad day for Star Valley when Dr Scott Leo Bennett met his untimely death in an avalanche near the Cottonwood Lake area

In February of 2008 Dr Marlowe Goble noted Orthopaedic Knee Specialist joined the SVMC professional staff and teamed with Dr Tallerico at Salt River Orthopaedics

In June of 2008 the Sleep Lab was moved into its own building with two separate sleep labs that allows the certified technician to do two studies simultaneously

In 2009 Dr Christian Mogan joined Star Valley Medical Center followed by Drs Niki Milleson and Ross Pieper in 2010