By Kristopher Schamber, MD, FACP – Medical Director, SMH Primary Care and Home Health & Hospice services
Primary care, pediatrics work to ensure access in Sheridan County
Primary care is not a specific specialty, but rather a style of medical practice with a focus on addressing a majority of personal health care needs, through long-term relationships with patients and their families, and practicing in the context of family and community. This includes initial diagnosis of acute and chronic problems, management of chronic illness, health and wellness promotion, disease prevention and appropriate referral to specialists as needed. Traditionally, primary care practice includes pediatrics (caring for children only), internal medicine (caring for adults only), and family practice (caring for all ages).
Sheridan Memorial Hospital started its Primary Care clinic in August 2022 with the addition of family medicine to the organization’s already established Internal Medicine structure for older adults. Its purpose: to provide primary care to multiple generations of the same family, from grandchildren to grandparents.
At the outset, the purpose of the SMH Primary Care clinic was to fill a gap in the primary care world, as was its original intent with the development of the specialty, serving as a transition point from pediatrics to internal medicine, and as a special place where an entire family can receive their medical care. Drs. Erica Rinker and Emily Denney, with nurse practitioners Jeff Shideman and Rebekah Montgomery, and the addition of Dr. Lisa Mullen in the fall, embody this vision, serving entire families in this community.
For multiple decades prior to the opening of the SMH Primary Care clinic, the pediatric population in Sheridan County and surrounding communities has been served by multiple generations of providers at Northeast Wyoming Pediatric Associates (NEWPA), beginning with the founding members Drs. Knepper and Wohl, who then passed the torch to Dr. Knepper’s daughter, Dr. Suzanne Oss. Dr. Michael Sanderson joined NEWPA as a valuable partner in 2019, and nurse practitioner Marcella Wildeman has been caring for children at NEWPA since 2022. In addition, Dr. Mary Bowers has provided high-quality pediatric care as the sole physician at Goose Creek Pediatrics alongside NEWPA for decades.
The changing, and challenging, landscape in healthcare has necessitated collaborative efforts within medical communities across our great nation. This is no truer than in Sheridan County with the partnerships between Sheridan Memorial Hospital Primary Care, Northeast Wyoming Pediatric Associates and Goose Creek Pediatrics. Strategically combining resources and expertise, and collaborating in care, allows our physicians and nurse practitioners to continue providing high quality pediatric care while expanding access to meet the needs of our growing community.
So what do these partnerships mean for our community? Patients at NEWPA will continue to see their pediatrician, with the opportunity to transition care to SMH Primary Care if it fits their needs. Primary Care has excellent access for pediatric appointments, with same day availability if needed. The physicians at SMH Primary Care and NEWPA are working together, ensuring vaccine schedules, developmental screens and other standards of care are similar at both locations. And beginning this month, you will see Drs. Rinker and Denney and a number of their staff from SMH Primary Care seeing patients at NEWPA, improving appointment access and ensuring smooth transitions for those patients who wish to come down to Primary Care.
These partnerships centralize overhead and administrative costs, enabling us to focus on community care, and ensuring that Sheridan’s community health initiatives remain local. This transition means all patients in our community will be able to see a provider of their choosing, that fits their style, with expertise that fits their medical needs, in a cohesive medical system. From acute care to annual physicals, through all stages of life, SMH serves the whole family.
To read more about Northeast Wyoming Pediatric Associates joining Sheridan Memorial Hospital click HERE.