Both the past and the future were highlighted during a weekend open house at Regional West, part of the 100th anniversary of the healthcare organization.
Past Board Chair Hod Kosman told the crowd the facility was born in 2024 out of a need for care in the region, as evidenced by a Board of Trustees with 69 members from communities stretching from eastern and southeastern Wyoming to throughout the Panhandle, and even towns farther east.
Kosman said the organization continued to grow from the origin in a former hotel in downtown Scottsbluff, eventually leading to a move to the current location as West Nebraska General Hospital.
He said the focus continued to evolve as the area underwent transformations caused by increases in vehicular travel and the arrival of more intensive agricultural practices, which led to the decision to make Regional West a Level 2 trauma center in an effort to save lives.
“That certainly has come to fruition, with, with the type of services that we’re able to offer. The other, items that we talked about and have talked about since we renewed this approach several times, was that timing can be everything in terms of health care,” said Kosman. “The time from the moment you need health care quickly and the time that you get it, greatly makes a difference in the outcome.”
Kosman also pointed to the future, noting the fairly recent impact of technology on the quality of healthcare at the medical center. “When did you ever think that you’d have, you know, your surgeon is over there and you’re over here and he’s doing surgery on you from over there? So the robotic systems that we put in here have made a massive difference in our ability to continue to show health care value to our region. And it’s just one more step that we’ve taken in this area to be to make it all better for all of us,” Kosman said.
Also speaking during the event were CEO Mel McNea, new CFO and Scottsbluff Mayor Jeannie McKerrigan, and Dr. Jeffrey Holloway.
Another significant part of the celebration was a display of pictures and items spanning the past 100 years, including a bariatric chamber used in the treatment of polio, a candy-stripper uniform and the capstone of a 75th anniversary time capsule and its contents.
Representatives also gathered together items for a 100th anniversary time capsule, including COVID related items such as a mask and a dose of the Moderna shot, a flyer about the Varian Edge robotic surgery system, a program from the anniversary and a 100th anniversary challenge coin.
