Wyo National Guard reports for duty at CCH

Ten members of the Wyoming Army National Guard arrived at Campbell County Health on November 27 to provide support for non-clinical staff in Environmental Services, Laundry, and perform COVID-19 screening and swabbing. Six are deployed to The Legacy Living and Rehabilitation Center, and four to Campbell County Memorial Hospital until December 26, 2020. All are volunteers and will work about 40 hours per week while here.

According to their commander, Staff Sergeant Nolan Budweg, they are happy to serve and help take some of the load for a few weeks.

The increase in COVID-19 cases in the community also means that more CCH employees are either sick or in quarantine, and the arrival of the National Guard is helping keep those essential services like laundry and cleaning fully staffed for patients.

To address the surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations around the state, Governor Mark Gordon authorized resources from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Wyoming National Guard, and travelling medical staff to help provide additional support to Wyoming hospitals. The Governor allocated $10 million in CARES Act funding to the Wyoming Hospital Association to coordinate this effort.

Two Health and Medical Task Force (HMTF) teams from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Disaster Medical System will deploy to Campbell County Memorial Hospital in Gillette and Cheyenne Regional Medical Center to help medical providers responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Each 15-member team includes physicians and nurses who will support hospitals in Campbell and Laramie counties for 14 days. The communities were selected based on where the immediate need was greatest.

Wyoming National Guard members will be assisting with activities such as delivering meals and other activities to free up medical staff. There will be deployed for 30 days unless extended upon request. Assistance with non-medical tasks helps the hospitals focus their medical resources on tasks where they can have the most impact.

As many as 50 traveling medical staff are expected to be deployed throughout the state by the end of the week to provide staffing relief and ease the burden on hospital resources.

Welcome to Gillette, Wyoming and we thank you so much!

Photo captions: SPC Trey Svoboda and SPC Jennifer Stewart working in the Laundry, where the staff cleans over 3,000 pounds of laundry per day.

Photo 2: SPC Robert Gargus helps with the twice-weekly COVID-19 testing of staff at The Legacy.