• Open house planned for Saturday, Jan. 11.

When Dr. Ryker Kiel, DO, learned of Star Valley Health plans for expansion of the Alpine Clinic he welcomed the opportunity to help. His interest was emergency room care for a growing area in western Wyoming.

Additional plans in Alpine include a new surgical center and lab.

Dr. Kiel brings emergency room experience to the assignment, working in the Star Valley hospital now but training in a larger emergency room setting in Detroit.

While training, he took random emergency room assignments in Star Valley. It was during those assignments that he learned to appreciate Star Valley and welcomed the opportunity to live here.

“I love this area, it’s objectively beautiful,” he said and then adding with a smile, “It seems you people like to keep it a secret.”

He added, “My wife brought us out here. We were looking for a change and my wife loves a rural community.”

Dr. Kiel has enjoyed working with Star Valley Health and the emergency care services.. “I like the hospital and…in our time here we have grown to love the area more,” he said.

“I moved into the director’s role six months ago and when the Alpine Emergency room was announced I wanted to be involved in that.”

Staffing Alpine works with an initial trained staff. He said, “We have four full-time trained ER physicians but we are doubling with this Alpine growth.”

Alpine will also have the traditional nurse and technician support.

Dr. Kiel said he enjoys the opportunities to help people with emergency care services.

“You never know what will walk in,” he said. “It is very seasonal around here, we see different things in the winter than what we see in the summer. Very rarely is one day similar to the previous day.”

He continued, “It’s a very exciting job and you wear a lot of different hats and can be a master of all specialties.”

He credited the work of everyone involved with staffing the emergency care services.

“This is a team effort. This is not an ‘ER doc runs the show.’ When you are working with me, the ER nurses run the show, which I love. We have a very strong nursing staff here and that is part of the reason I chose this hospital.”

Dr. Keil also credited Star Valley Health for a cooperative work environment.  “This hospital is easy to work with, in regards to administration and the clinical staff. It seems like a cohesive effort overall. I have been surprised at how willing everyone has been to participate with these quality improvement projects.”

In preparation for Alpine’s opening in January, staff has been preparing with regular meetings and repetitive tours of the new facilities.

“We have meetings every day trying to get ahead of any problems that we can anticipate in the future,” he said. “We’re putting additional eyes on the project so on day one we are ready to go.”

Alpine will have all of the same professional equipment for emergency care as the Afton hospital with new “CT’s  x-rays, and an ultra sound,” Dr. Kiel said, “In addition to a high quality of lab.”

A public open house is planned for Saturday Jan. 11 in Alpine and the formal opening will be Monday, Jan. 13.