Hospital gains two new directors

At the last meeting of the Hot Springs County Memorial Hospital Board of Directors, the board was introduced to Jeramy Jones, the new pharmacy director, and Terrence Place, the new laboratory director

Jones earned his doctorate of pharmacy from Idaho State University College of Pharmacy in 2002. From there, he started in retail - working at pharmacies inside stores - before moving into hospital pharmacies.

For Jones, the latter has been much more enjoyable, as he's able to get much more involved in terms of working with patients, nurses and physicians, and finding the best medicine or practice to use.

"In retail, you're just sort of lost," Jones said, further explaining patients bring in their prescriptions to him and he hopes the prescribing physician made the right choice and the patient won't have a reaction.

Jones moved to Wyoming about seven years ago, and previously worked at a 200-bed hospital in Ogden, Utah. When he first moved here, he was with Banner Health and worked one day a week for about three years. That kept up his hospital skills, while working with retail pharmacies kept him moving.

Jones does some work with Washakie Medical Center as needed, and currently lives in Worland with his wife and six kids, and they all enjoy Wyoming. He officially began with the HSCMH pharmacy Dec. 5.

With regard to the future of the hospital, Jones said the current update and renovation is impressive. He plans to stay on top of the new advances in medicine, and pointed out the hospital staff is very pro-active in keeping up with best practices. With the moving around of offices, he looks forward to being out of the basement and closer to the patients.

Jones would also like to do take on the challenge of working with chemotherapy patients.

As for the new laboratory director, Place graduated from Western New Mexico University with a degree in biology and a minor in business. He received his original laboratory training near the end of the Vietnam War, at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

While serving in the Army, he worked in a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) unit. Place served in the Army from 1974-80, earning a Medical Lab Specialist accreditation and the rank of E5, and after he was honorably discharged he began hospital work and earned his bachelor's degree from Western New Mexico University and his accreditation as a registered medical technologist.

Place most recently worked at Crawford County Memorial Hospital in Denison, Iowa. He said he rebuilt the lab there, and decided he wanted one more challenge before retirement, which brought him here; his wife also works at the hospital as a registered nurse.

With regard to the upcoming hospital remodel, he noted the lab definitely needs some remodeling as they have far outgrown the space they have.

Place began at the hospital lab on March 13, and would also like to update some of the instrumentation. As for Thermopolis, he enjoys it here and said the town is "right in the middle of some of the most beautiful scenery on the planet."