The Voice of the Community Since 1909, Serving Moorcroft and Pine Haven, Wyoming
The Voice of the Community Since 1909, Serving Moorcroft and Pine Haven, Wyoming
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CASPER - Walking into the Natrona County Townsend Justice Center is a bit daunting. You're met with security, asked to part with electronic devices and then shepherded through a metal detector. Take a quick right, then left, and just past the elevator you arrive at the Natrona County Court Navigator Pilot Project, which has a name possibly larger than the closet-like space from which it operates. While sparse and windowless, the room and its volunteers represent an effort from the state's...
More than 17,500 Wyoming enrollees lost Medicaid or Kids Care CHIP coverage over the previous 12 months ending March. That’s because the Wyoming Department of Health is performing its federally mandated eligibility review for the services. The state paused that annual effort during the pandemic while the feds temporarily bolstered Medicaid funds to help cover extra enrollees. Of those removed from the rolls, 12,380 — nearly 70% — lost access due to “procedural reasons,” like failing to return renewal paperwork. About three quarters of those...
Amid funding and staffing pressures at emergency medical service agencies across Wyoming, two bills this legislative session aim to help attract more volunteers. The Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Committee voted nearly unanimously to sponsor two bills for this session: Senate File 3 – State employee leave for volunteer fire or volunteer EMS and Senate File 8 – Health insurance for volunteer emergency responders. They come at a time of mixed success for legislation intended to help rur...
CASPER – Katrina Ferrell helps people in crisis. As program coordinator for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, she assists callers who may be feeling desperate or despondent. The lifeline provides free emotional support and resources day and night. “I think we make a really big difference in a lot of lives,” she said. For years, Wyoming has struggled with one of the nation’s worst suicide rates. And for years, it did so without a lifeline staffed by local folks. That’s no longer the case. Wyoming is now home to a pair of call centers t...
The flow of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids into Wyoming continues to swell, according to data presented to state lawmakers last week. From 2017 to 2021, Wyoming lost 410 people to drug overdoses with a growing share of deaths due to fentanyl. Between 2018 and 2021, the number of deaths caused by man-made opioids like fentanyl increased from 10 to 42 in Wyoming, according to the Wyoming Vital Statistics Service. While final death counts from 2022 are still being tallied, the amount of fentanyl seized by law enforcement continues to soar....
Mounting pressures have made it nearly impossible for rural EMS agencies to balance their budgets, resulting in a spate of EMS office closures across Wyoming and increasing uncertainty about providing ambulance and emergency care to state residents. One proposed bill at the Legislature aims to create a new funding source. Sen. Cale Case (R-Lander) is sponsoring Senate File 43 – EMS districts, which would allow counties to form — and local voters to adopt and fund — EMS districts. “We’re hoping to get sustainable funding, hold the level of...
