With funding being limited last year, the Wyoming State Loan and Investment Board didn’t offer any mineral royalty grants. That was “kind of a big hit,” said Payton Allerheiligen of Powell Valley Healthcare, as the state board is one of the organization’s biggest funding sources for capital improvements and purchases.

However, the state plans to award more grants this year, and the Powell Hospital District hopes to receive roughly $59,900 to help pay for three different projects at the hospital and nursing home.

“It is a lot smaller of an amount than we’ve asked for in the past, but they do have limited funding again this year,” Allerheiligen explained to Park County commissioners on Feb. 15, “so we thought if we asked for a smaller dollar amount, our chances of getting everything funded might be higher.”

The most expensive project on the list is a new, modular serving line for the hospital’s cafeteria.

“Right now, it’s just one long, large piece of equipment and we’ve had a couple of pieces break reecenty and they are not able to get replacement parts,” Allerheiligen explained; that’s left the serving line with not enough refrigeration for its cold food items. A new, three-piece line is expected to cost around $73,000.

Also on the list is a new set of front doors for the Powell Valley Care Center. One of the current pull-open doors is broken and the district wants to replace the set with automatic, sliding doors. PVHC says the no touch option is much better for infection prevention and the automation will make it much easier for transporting care center residents in wheelchairs to and from the facility.

The cost is expected to be around $24,400.

Finally, the district is equipping all of its ambulances with a new stretcher locking system, and the 14-year-old cots now in use are not compatible, PVHC says. So, the district is seeking a new, $22,000 stretcher.

All told, the three projects are expected to cost nearly $120,000, with the district hoping the State Loan and Investment Board (SLIB) will cover half that sum; the rest of the money would come from the taxpayer-funded district’s reserve accounts, Allerheiligen said.

Park County commissioners unanimously agreed to write a letter of support for the hospital’s requests, saying the projects would allow the Powell Hospital District “to better serve our patients and provide the best level of care possible.”

The SLIB — which is made up of Wyoming’s five statewide elected officials — is set to consider the district’s application at its June 2 meeting.