After a large contingent of Fremont County residents spoke in favor of Central Wyoming College’s proposed Health and Science Center July 21, five of the seven CWC board members approved a resolution that would place the $11.5 million tax question on the November 2 general election ballot.

More than 25 people from all parts of Fremont County spoke in favor of CWC’s plan to ask voters to approve the bond. The college is proposing the facility to house its nursing and environment, health and safety programs, science labs, and classrooms.

Riverton and Lander hospital administrators Chris Smolik and Ben Quinton emphatically implored the board to seek funding for the facility that should allow the college to double the number of nursing graduates. The two described the current nursing shortage and projected a dismal future for acute care facilities as more and more people seek health care as a result of recent reform.

    Smolik, Riverton’s hospital administrator, predicts the health care reform package will cause a “tsunami of new patients coming into the system,” and cautioned those at the board meeting not to expect the same level of health care services five years from now.

    “There will be over 1,000 hospital closures because of the quality initiatives of the reform,” he said, reminding Wyoming people that travel to urban areas may be required for health care.

    “We need more and more institutions creating opportunities for students to go into these fields,” he said. “I guarantee those individuals (who do not support the Health and Science Center) will rue the day when they don’t support health care initiatives.”

    Quinton, who is the Lander hospital CEO, said his institution doesn’t have enough doctors and nurses right now. “At Lander Regional Hospital, the number one challenge is recruiting enough nurses,” he said, noting that the hospital is only able to staff two of its four ICU beds because of the shortage.

Alan Moore, a Riverton accountant who is the founder of a local economic development group, said the college’s proposed facility would be a benefit to the communities in Fremont County. “Eighty percent of the nurses who graduate stay in the area,” he said. “It’s about jobs and opportunities.”

    Also speaking in support of the project were nurses who graduated from the CWC program, who said the facility could provide continuing education to healthcare professionals.

    Four student senators talked about the need for larger science labs because of the college’s more than 40 percent enrollment growth in the past three years.

    For more information on the bond proposal, contact CWC Public Information Officer Carolyn Aanestad at (307) 855-2103.