Potential Sheridan Memorial Hospital/Billings Clinic Partnership Could Help Save Patient Travel Time

Some medical patients may no longer have to travel from the Sheridan and Johnson County areas to Billings for an appointment.

Last week, the Hospital announced it is exploring a strategic partnership with the Billings Clinic and that representatives from both places have met to begin putting conceptual plans together.

Once plans are ready, they will need to be approved by the Hospital’s Board of Directors and by the Sheridan County Commissioners.

Hospital CEO Mike McCafferty says it’s too early in the planning stage to specifically say what new services that the hospital might be able to offer, but it could open up an array of specialty services.

He adds one of the goals of the partnership is to save patients from having to make a trip to Billings that they may not need to make.

“I think the opportunities are to really kind of knock off some of the rough edges on that flow of traffic back and forth between our organizations, and really that benefits patients whether it be being able to communicate more directly with individual clinicians or through the electronic medical record and the portal, those kinds of things are really important.”

The hospital will host three community forums to share information regarding the affiliation process.

The first is on Monday, October 27th from 5 until 6pm at the Primary Care facility located at 61 South Gould Street in Sheridan.

The second is on Tuesday, October 28th from 5 until 6pm at the Tongue River Valley Community Center in Dayton.

The third is on Wednesday, October 29th from 5:30 until 6:30pm at the Big Horn Women’s Club.

Click here to read the media release from Sheridan Memorial Hospital