By ZACH SPADT
Staff Reporter 

Glade appointed to hospital board

 

September 1, 2022



WORLAND — Washakie Medical Center has a new board member.

The Washakie County Commission recently appointed Worland resident Chuck Glade to the hospital’s oversight board.

Located in Worland, Washakie Medical Center is a county-owned building operated by Banner Health.

Glade grew up in a farming community “even smaller than Worland” roughly 50 miles west of Des Moines, Iowa. He’s called Worland home since 1976, nearly half a century.

“I’m a small-town kind of guy,” Glade said.

Glade said he was encouraged to seek a spot on the board after a friend had to step down due to health issues.

“I’m retired now,” Glade said. “I have a little time, so I thought I’d give something back.”

As Glade and his wife, Sherrie, have gotten older they have needed to utilize the medical facilities in Washakie County. They have always been impressed with the staff and facilities available with it.

And they realize how critical a hospital is to the economic survival of a community. If the hospital can’t retain good doctors and nurses, Glade said, Worland would quickly become an undesirable place for people to live — both young and old.

It’s not just having access to immediate and critical care for Glade.

“It’s the feeling of walking into a facility: You have to go in and face a medical crisis, and right away you’re immediately comforted by walking in and seeing people you know. You’re not intimidated by strangers or a huge facility that’s overwhelming,” Glade said. “It’s a hometown thing.”

Only having been through one, uneventful, board meeting, Glade said he’s still on the learning curve for finding the issues facing Washakie Medical Center. He believes they are the same as many other facilities in rural Wyoming: retaining doctors and nurses, for example.

When Glade moved to Worland from Iowa in 1976, he spent the first six or seven years working in the agricultural industry. From there, he became a State Farm agent in Worland and worked in that capacity for 32 years.

He’s been retired since 2016.

“(Retirement) has taken a while to get used to. Now the time goes quicker. I don’t know when I found time to work,” Glade said.

Glade and his wife have built up a close group of friends over the years. They recently visited Helena, Montana.

They like utilizing the Worland Aquatic Center to get some exercise in.

“Nothing real exciting,” Glade said. “We’re just kind of average people.”

 
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