Sheridan Memorial Hospital Attempting To Improve Care To Behavioral Health Patients

Although the Sheridan Memorial Hospital has many things to heal a patient physically, it’s under-resourced in the ability to heal a patient mentally, but that could soon change.

The Hospital Board of Trustees is putting together a proposal application to the State Loan and Investment Board to create an Emergency Psychiatric Assessment, Treatment and Healing facility (EmPATH).

The purpose would be to provide urgent care to psychiatric and behavioral health patients.

The hospital does accept a number of psychiatric patients and also accepts Title 25 holds, meaning it’s an involuntary commitment period, where a patient poses a danger to themselves and to others.

From there they could be sent to either the Wyoming Behavioral Institute in Casper, the State Hospital in Evanston or to a facility in Gillette.

Hospital President Mike McCafferty says it could take awhile to get into one of those places than a patient would like, which delays the process of getting the patients the help they need.

“A lot of times there’s a wait list for these patients in all places and we might have to end up housing them at our hospital, without any real therapeutic treatment, just a safe environment.”

McCafferty adds he anticipates the SLIB board will meet in late August.