Our History

Over the past 95 years, the facility now known as Wyoming Medical Center has expanded from a small hospital that cared for the people of Natrona County to a sophisticated, multi-million-dollar complex that serves the entire state. This evolution has relied on not just the construction of buildings but the on-going commitment of dedicated, professional staff to provide the best medical care possible, as well.

Humble beginnings

The Casper branch of Wyoming General Hospital opened its doors Nov. 1, 1911. Built with $22,500 from the Wyoming State Legislature, the square, two-story brick building stood between the eastern edge of Casper and treeless prairie. Martha Converse Kimball served as the first superintendent.

In 1918, World War I and a flu epidemic that swept across the globe placed an immense strain on the 35-bed facility. The nursing staff had been reduced to only one nurse to care for people during the epidemic. The hospital, however, survived these traumatic events and gained a $12,469 addition in 1920.

Two years later, the state allowed Natrona County to buy the hospital for the nominal fee of $1. The Natrona County Commissioners took possession of the building, grounds, equipment and supplies on Jan. 1, 1922, renaming the facility Memorial Hospital of Natrona County. A period of expansion included the addition of a west wing, bringing the facility’s capacity to 100 beds, and construction of a county nurses’ home to serve as living quarters for students training at the hospital’s school of nursing, which operated for several years.

The Depression forestalled continued construction until 1938, when Natrona County citizens voted $208,000 – 55 percent – of a federal aid project for an east wing. World War II dominated the 1940s, drawing many physicians and nurses from the hospital to military service. Despite wartime shortages, the hospital continued to operate.

Boomtown

After the war, a population influx related to thriving local oil production filled the hospital to capacity. In an effort to address the overcrowded conditions, the facility’s board of trustees scheduled a $900,000 bond issue, but division within the community led to its defeat.

The need for additional space became even more crucial when the county population spiked again, this time by 5,000 people in less than two years. Facilities designed for 124 patients bulged with 145 to 165 patients at any given time. Voters approved a $1 million bond issue, making possible construction of the north section of the building in 1956. A subsequent $1.6 million bond issue allowed for demolition of the last remaining section of the original building and the 1967 erection of the six-story building central to the facility today.

During the 1970’s, emergency services were expanded, and the Natrona County Memorial Hospital Foundation was established to raise additional funds for special hospital projects.

A new era

In 1986, a major corporate restructuring resulted in Wyoming Medical Center, a private, not-for-profit, charitable corporation that leases the county-owned facilities. A board of trustees comprised of Natrona County citizens oversees the county's facilities. Free of many of the restrictions that often stem from county operation, practicing physicians were then able to assume board positions, and WMC could undertake partnerships to further its mission.

The December 1989 opening of the $5 million Central Services Building ushered in a decade of major construction projects, including the Cancer Treatment Center, Casper Surgical Center and the south link connecting the parking structure and the main hospital. In 1997, crews razed the antiquated east wing, making way for a contemporary annex at a cost of $45 million. Completed in 2001, this branch of the hospital houses a Trauma Center, Intensive Care Unit and surgical suites.

The doctors and nurses who pioneered medical care in Natrona County nearly a century ago never could have imagined the large complex of modern buildings, highly skilled professional staff and state-of-the-art care available to all the people of Wyoming today. Wyoming Medical Center looks forward to the challenges and possibilities another century of service will bring.