Hospital welcomes new staff members

Hospital has new Emergency Management Coordinator

Stevie Nosich is Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County's new Emergency Management Coordinator.

Nosich, the hospital's environmental safety officer, accepted the additional responsibilities in February. She replaces David Beltran who recently retired.

Tami Love, MHSC Chief Financial Officer, said Nosich is a perfect fit for the job.

"Stevie has always gone above and beyond in all of her prior positions," Love said. "We are excited to have her enthusiasm and work ethic on our Emergency Management team."

Nosich said, "In taking on this position, I knew my No. 1 goal would be to help our staff in any way I can to make sure we are prepared at all times for any situation. We found out on April 3 that we are. Our staff worked quickly and efficiently to ensure every contingency was met in case we received victims of an active shooter incident. Thankfully, the incident was a hoax. We had all hands on deck and called in extra staff to make sure every area was covered."

In this role, Nosich's responsibilities include developing, training and managing emergency operations and preparedness for the hospital per requirements set by The Joint Commission, the hospital's accreditation agency.

"I provide the staff with education and training such as MOAB (Management of Aggressive Behaviors) De-escalation Training," said Nosich, who has worked at the hospital for more than 14 years. "Along with the Emergency Management Team, I help to make sure the hospital and staff are prepared in the event of any emergency situation within the hospital or our community such as loss of resources, mass casualties, natural disasters, pandemics, and more."

"An important part of my role is working directly with community partners such as first responders, law enforcement, public health, and county emergency management," Nosich said. "We not only want to make sure we are prepared and can take care of our employees and patients in the event of an emergency, but also make sure we are prepared for the community. We live in a rural area and are the only full-service hospital in Sweetwater County. It's very important that we are prepared for any emergency situation."

The hospital's Emergency Management Team consists of leadership, registered nurses, community members, first responders, physicians and other staff members. The group meets quarterly to ensure MHSC is compliant with its training. It organizes in-house exercises and participates in community-wide training. The team also develops plans based on MHSC's Hazard Vulnerability Analysis for Sweetwater County.

To qualify for the position, she is FEMA trained, including Incident Command Structure Training, disaster supervisory training. She also is a MOAB De-escalation/Defense instructor and is currently providing that training for MHSC staff.

Nosich is President of the Wyoming Society of Healthcare Engineering Board, an affiliate of the American Society of Healthcare Engineering, which is the largest association dedicated to optimizing the healthcare-built environment. She is a member of the Local Emergency Preparedness Committee and the Western Wyoming Healthcare coalition. 

Pediatric Clinic welcomes new provider

Juli Forrester is thankful to be able to work where she grew up, and serve a community she says helped raise her.

The Advanced Practice Registered Nurse, Family Nurse Practitioner, joined Tammy Walker, PMHNP, CPNP-PC, and the team at the Pediatric Clinic of Sweetwater Memorial earlier this month.

"I'm really excited about this," Walker said. "I've known Juli for a time and have been able to work with her on some cases. She's intelligent, fun, hardworking, and energetic. I know she will be an excellent addition to the pediatric team."

Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County CEO Irene Richardson agreed. "We are excited that Juli has joined us, and we welcome her to our hospital family," she said.

Forrester, who most recently worked at Castle Rock Medical Center in Green River, is a born-and-raised Wyoming resident. She graduated from Green River High School. She lived in Big Piney for a time with her husband. They currently live in Green River with their two kids and two dogs.

"We love Wyoming, and southwest Wyoming in particular," she said. "We are big outdoors people. We enjoy camping, hiking, fishing and hunting."

Forrester said she initially went into nursing because she wanted a challenging job. "I also wanted a job that would allow me to help others become the healthiest versions of themselves," she said.

"I later became a nurse practitioner and found my passion for pediatrics," Forrester said.

"I love working with not only the kids I see, but their parents and families. Being able to make a positive impact on families that will lead to better health outcomes as these kids reach adulthood is really a goal of mine in my practice."

She has provided care to populations across the lifespan, with an emphasis on pediatric care and acute care needs.

Prior to her work at Castle Rock, she worked for Big Piney School District No. 9 in Marbleton, Sublette Center Long-Term Care in Pinedale, and Sublette County Rural Healthcare District in Marbleton.

Forrester has a Master of Science in Nursing from Frontier Nursing University, an Associate of Science in Nursing from Western Wyoming Community College, and an Associate of Science from Western.

The Pediatric Clinic of Sweetwater Memorial is at 3000 College Drive. For an appointment, call 307-212-7717.