SMH and Foundation give “Growing for You” campaign update

Sheridan Memorial Hospital Chief Development Officer Cody Sinclair and Director of Philanthropy Liz Dearcorn made an appearance on Sheridan Media’s Public Pulse to update the community on the progress of the SMH Behavioral Health Unit and the “Growing for You” campaign. 

The campaign is continuing to raise funds that are building a system of care in Sheridan County to ensure those struggling with mental health have “a place to go.”

Arriving in Sheridan Fall of 2024, Sheridan Memorial Hospital Specialist of Adult Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine Dr. Michael Kinney, has been working with SMH Director of Behavioral Health Brittany Goodvin to develop the unit and ensure processes and practices are in place. 

According to Sinclair, Dr. Kinney has already begun to meet and speak with approximately 300 members of the community.

Goodvin and other SMH leadership took a tour of other mental health units within the Rocky Mountain Region and met with their administrators and doctors to learn practices and procedures that have worked through time and those that didn’t work. 

Dearcorn said the progress within the SMH facility, the building of the Behavioral Health Unit utilizing existing space has been impressive to see. 

L. Dearcorn 

By using the existing space at the hospital, work needed to create a facility was cut down and the cost was cut in half. The financial support has come from local and state governments, corporate businesses, local businesses, foundations and individual community members.  

Currently, the Foundation is only $700,000 short of its fundraising goal. 

Sinclair said the O’Dell family has set-up a match fund, willing to match any donation made up to $45,000. But being a part of the entire process has taught everyone involved the vital need for a behavioral health unit in the Sheridan Region. 

C. Sinclair

To learn more or make a donation to the Foundation for the “Growing for You” campaign, click here.