As a regional trauma and referral center, Banner Wyoming Medical Center is the largest hospital in Wyoming and provides comprehensive heart, stroke and trauma care and more to the people of Wyoming. The hospital’s team is made up of people with a genuine desire to take care of their friends, family and neighbors and to keep that care in the state.
These are just some of the faces behind Banner Wyoming Medical Center.
Meet Tom,
Tom Sherwin was a pipe welder for more than 15 years before deciding he needed a career change. After more than a dozen knee surgeries and a lot of time spent in hospitals over the years, his wife encouraged him to think about a career in health care.
At first, he thought he might be a paramedic but ultimately decided to pursue a respiratory therapy degree at Casper College. He’s now been a respiratory therapist for more than 11 years and began managing Banner Health’s Sleep Lab in Casper in 2019.
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“It’s important to me to give every patient the best care,” he said. “I’ve been on the other side, and I know how much a kind word means.”
Tom grew up on a 30,000-acre ranch west of Casper and enjoys everything outdoors, including bow hunting, fishing, hiking, rock hounding, and prospecting. If he’s not outside, he enjoys spending time with his wife, four daughters and grandson.
Meet Sam,
All of the males in Sam Liday’s family are firefighters, so it seemed clear that might be his career path as well. His mother is a pharmacist and he thought about following in her footsteps, but she talked him out of it. Firefighting didn’t feel like his life calling, so he decided to pursue nursing school.
“I knew I wanted to do something that would have an impact,” said Sam.
Originally from Idaho and educated in Montana, Sam is accustomed to life in the West and moved to Casper almost two years ago with his girlfriend who is from here. She is a firefighter. Sam is a nurse on Banner’s Wyoming Medical Center’s Neuro Unit.
When Sam isn’t at work, he enjoys everything outdoors, including hunting, skiing and especially fly fishing along the North Platte River.
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Meet Kindal,
A dog-adoring, sun-worshipping, golf-loving LPN.
Kindal Kott moved to Wyoming from a small town in Texas when she was 13. After high school, she wasn’t quite sure what she wanted to do for a career, but knew she wanted to stay in Casper.
“I really like Wyoming,” she said.
Kindal decided to get her CNA license and has worked on Banner Wyoming Medical Center’s Medical Unit for about three years. She was inspired by her co-workers and one of her cousins who is a NICU nurse to pursue nursing school and has been holding down her job as an LPN while attending nursing school at Casper College.
“I just felt like it was the right thing to do,” she said.
In Kindal’s limited free time, she enjoys walking her two blue heelers and playing golf.
Meet Jonica,
A dog-loving, walleye-fishing, amateur-bowling paramedic.
A scary experience as a teenager is what led Jonica Fields to health care. A tumor was discovered in her sinus cavity when she was just 14, which forced the Worland-native to spend a lot of time at Children’s Hospital in Denver. Fortunately, the tumor was benign and able to be removed, and she’s been able to lead a normal life.
Jonica decided to pursue her paramedic degree but after graduating about 10 years ago, there were no job openings in the ambulance department. She pivoted and decided to take a job in Banner Wyoming Medical Center’s lab as a phlebotomist and waited about 6 months for a paramedic job to open. Today, she’s in nursing school.
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“I really love the ambulance, but I don’t feel like this is the kind of job I can do until I’m 65,” she said.
In her free time, Jonica loves just about anything outside, especially if there is no cell service.
Meet Hong,
A humidity-loving, family-adoring, joyful-cooking laundry aide.
Hong Hatterman moved to Wyoming from Vietnam after she met and married her Wyoming-born husband. His mother, Hong’s mother-in-law, is also Vietnamese, which helped ease the big transition.
“The hardest thing was the weather,” she said. Even after 26 years, she says she still misses the humidity in Vietnam.
She doesn’t have the opportunity to return to Vietnam very often, but the family gets together to cook traditional food that feels like home, and she’s able to instill some of her cultural traditions in her two children.
Hong came to work at the hospital and worked in housekeeping for two years before transitioning to laundry, where she has spent more than 17 years. She said she has thought about going back to school to become a nurse, but she loves people and the teamwork in the laundry department.
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“When you’re happy with what you’re doing, time flies,” she said.
For more information on the faces behind Banner Wyoming Medical Center, and all of the services they provide, visit the Banner Wyoming Medical Center website or follow them on Facebook.
PAID FOR BY BANNER WYOMING MEDICAL CENTER This article is a promoted post. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the organization that paid for the article, and do not necessarily reflect the views, thoughts or opinions of Oil City News, its employees or its publisher. Please fill out this form if you would like to speak to our sales department about advertising opportunities on Oil City News.
When a clinic closes in Wyoming, it doesn’t just close a door; it can cut off access to care for entire communities.
For many residents, getting to a health care provider already means traveling long distances across multiple counties, and local clinics are often the only nearby option for basic health care. With one Title X Family Planning clinic in western Wyoming now closed, the challenge is becoming even more real for many people.
Reproductive and sexual health care is a key part of overall health, but it’s often one of the first services people lose access to when clinics close. Title X Family Planning is a federal program that helps people get essential preventive care, no matter their income. These clinics offer services like birth control, cancer screenings, STI and HIV testing, and care before pregnancy. They help people stay healthy, catch problems early, and plan for their futures.
The need is real. Wyoming’s Title X Family Planning network remains a critical part of the state’s health care system, helping bridge gaps in both access and affordability. With 9 clinics currently serving communities across the state, these providers cared for nearly 12,000 patients through more than 28,000 visits between 2022 and 2025. For many, these clinics are their only source of care: 49% of patients were uninsured, and nearly half were living at or below the federal poverty level.
In a state where distance and cost can both be barriers, affordable care is essential. About 14.6% of Wyoming women ages 19–44 are uninsured, higher than the national average. Title X clinics help meet this need by offering low- or no-cost care, while also connecting patients to referrals and additional health services when needed, ensuring more individuals can get the care they deserve.
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These clinics are also on the front lines of prevention. In recent years, they delivered more than 3,100 cervical cancer screenings and about 20,000 STI and HIV tests. Services like these support early detection and treatment, helping reduce the need for more serious and costly care down the line.
In rural states like Wyoming, once a clinic closes, it is very hard to bring it back. These clinics are more than buildings; they are part of the local health care system that keeps communities healthy.
The good news is that Title X Family Planning clinics are still open, working every day to serve their communities. The Wyoming Health Council supports this network of clinics and works to ensure that people across the state can access the care they need. Through partnerships, education, and community-based programs, the organization helps connect Wyoming residents to reproductive and sexual health services, no matter where they live.
In a state where distance, cost, and provider shortages all play a role, these clinics, and the work supporting them, are more than just a convenience. They are a lifeline.
To help sustain this work and protect access to care across Wyoming, consider making a donation to the Wyoming Health Council.
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Donation Link: givebutter.com/WYTitleX
Required Federal Funding statement: This project is supported by the Office of Populations Affairs (OPA) and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Health (OASH) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award 1 FPHPA 006541-0-00 totaling $978,380 with 100 percent funded by OPA/OASH/HHS. The contents are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by OPA/OASH/HHS or the U.S. Government.
PAID FOR BY WYOMING HEALTH COUNCIL This article is a promoted post. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the organization that paid for the article, and do not necessarily reflect the views, thoughts or opinions of Oil City News, its employees or its publisher. Please fill out this form if you would like to speak to our sales department about advertising opportunities on Oil City News.
CASPER, Wyo. — The Casper City Council voted Tuesday to approve on first reading a zoning change for a vacant 2.4-acre parcel located at 1530 SE Wyoming Boulevard, transitioning the property from residential to commercial use.
The ordinance reclassifies Lot 4 of the Methodist Church Addition from Residential Estate to General Business. Located between East 15th and East 18th streets, the irregular-shaped property has remained undeveloped since it was first platted in 1984.
While original plans for the subdivision envisioned a church and an associated preschool, Community Development Director Liz Becher reported those projects never materialized.
According to Becher, the applicant sought the rezoning to facilitate the potential installation of a cell tower or an off-premises sign. Under the new C-2 designation, a cell tower up to 130 feet in height is considered a permitted use by right, though any off-premises sign would still require a conditional use permit from the Planning and Zoning Commission. The applicant also owns the adjacent lot to the north, which the city rezoned to general business in 2021.
Becher said the change aligns with the “Employment Mixed Use” classification in the Generation Casper comprehensive land use plan. This designation typically supports civic, institutional and employment spaces.
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Despite the new zoning, the property remains subject to a subdivision agreement that limits traffic access. Entry and exit are restricted to right turns onto or from East 15th Street, and no access is permitted from East 18th Street.
The council will vote on two more readings of the ordinance before it is officially ratified.
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Two men were detained in Wyoming in connection with a fatal shooting at a downtown Salt Lake hotel that killed one man.
Carlos Chee, 23, and Chino Aguilar, 21, were both wanted for first-degree felony murder after the victim, identified as Christian Lee, 32, was found dead in a room at the Springhill Suites near 600 South and 300 West.
According to warrants issued for their arrest, Chee and Aguilar met with Lee and another woman at the hotel to sell marijuana. During the alleged drug deal, Aguilar allegedly shot and killed Lee after he tried to grab at his gun.
MORE | Shootings
Investigators said they found Lee dead in the room upon arrival, as well as a single shell casing on the floor and a small amount of marijuana on the television stand.
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The woman told investigators she had met Chee on a dating app and that he agreed to come to the hotel to sell her marijuana. She had been hanging out with him in the room, which Lee rented for her to use, when Lee asked them to leave. Lee was then shot and killed following a brief confrontation.
Chee and Aguilar allegedly fled the scene in a 2013 Toyota Camry with a Texas license plate that was later found outside of Rock Springs, Wyoming just a few hours later.
The two men were taken into custody and detained at the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office.
