Happy New Year from Sweetwater Memorial

On behalf of our Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County family, I would like to wish you and yours a very Happy New Year, and I hope your 2024 is filled with peace, prosperity, health, and fortune.

Welcoming in a new year always makes me feel a little nostalgic as I reflect on the past year – all the wonderful memories, things that were accomplished and things that still need to be accomplished, all the fun times – it makes me think of what is possible in the year ahead. The new year is a blank slate, unwritten pages, and unimaginable opportunities. I am excited and hopeful as we anticipate all the prospects a new beginning brings.

Traditionally, the song “Auld Lang Syne” is sung while bidding farewell to the past year and bringing in the new year. The song’s title may be translated as “long, long ago,” “days gone by,” or “times long past.”

This song is particularly meaningful this year because we just celebrated our 130^th year of having the privilege to provide healthcare to our patients and community. We began serving our patients and community in 1893, or in other words, long, long ago.

Healthcare in the late 1800s is markedly different than it is today. As the nineteenth century ended, advancements in biology, chemistry and related medical sciences meant that many of the diseases, including tuberculosis, yellow fever, diphtheria, cholera, and others, were practically eliminated with the development of diagnostic tests and treatments.

Over the last 130 years, healthcare has evolved and thrived. Great strides have been made. We are very proud of the services we provide in Sweetwater County and beyond. We implemented a new electronic health record that allows patients to access their healthcare record and get their results within hours. We boast state-of-the-art equipment that is always well maintained, and we are always striving to bring new equipment and services to our hospital to serve the needs of our patients. We are proud and excited that the daVinci Robotic System has allowed us to bring robotics-assisted surgery to our patients and community. We also are excited about the Mako SmartRobotics total knee replacement system, which is transforming the way joint replacement surgery is performed and is helping patients get back to the activities they love.

We also continue to serve the full healthcare needs of our patients and community by offering a wide range of services, including inpatient acute care and intensive care, emergency medicine, medical imaging, laboratory services, a full-service cancer center, dialysis center, family medicine, occupational medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, urology, general surgery, orthopedic surgery, otolaryngology, pulmonology, nephrology, neurology, and much more.

In addition to these services, we are constantly striving to improve health, wellness, and access to care here at Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County. The Sweetwater Walk-In Clinic is available six days a week, which allows ease of access to dedicated and compassionate primary care providers. The Patient Financial Navigation team is available to assist our patients with financial assistance, explanation of benefits, assistance with applying for Medicare and Medicaid, and many more services. To help our community stay well, we offer health fairs, cancer screenings, sports physicals, and patient education throughout the year. We also have a Patient and Family Advisory Council, which consists of members of the community who are dedicated to helping us promote health, wellness, and the advancement of healthcare here at Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County.

We are grateful and honored to serve and advance the healthcare needs of our patients and community and we look forward to providing excellent, high-quality, affordable healthcare in Sweetwater County for the next 130 years.

Happy New Year!

Irene Richardson
Chief Executive Officer
Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County