EVANSTON — “At the end of the day this facility is going to represent the state of Wyoming, it’s going to represent Uinta County, and it’s certainly going to represent the city of Evanston, and we want to have people look at it and say, ‘Man, that’s impressive, we like what we see.’” These sentiments were expressed by Wyoming state representative Lloyd Larsen (R-Lander), chairman of the Joint Legislative and Executive Task Force on Department of Health Facilities when discussing the new construction at the Wyoming State Hospital. 

Larsen was speaking as part of a community meeting held at WSH on Tuesday, Oct. 31, to update citizens on the status of the ongoing construction process. Larsen, along with representatives from the architectural design team and from the Wyoming Department of Health, shared design schematics and a timeline for construction, and answered questions from the public during the lunchtime session. 

The new construction is being undertaken with a goal of completely vacating the old buildings that were part of the original WSH. A new addition will be added to the “building with the blue roof,” as it was often described throughout the session, which currently serves as the Adult Protective Services, or APS, unit. 

The construction plan involves multiple steps, but eventually the APS building will become an administrative unit and the new construction will be patient living areas. There will be multiple “houses” of patient rooms, each with its own treatment mini mall. 

The forensic unit, currently Johnson Hall, will be very similar to the civil units in design, only with additional security features. 

The design of the new facility has been drafted with a strong focus on healing, said Arien Cartrette, representative of Architecture Plus, the firm hired by the Wyoming Department of Health. Cartrette said there will be outdoor gardens and open spaces, and that the indoor areas are designed to create a “safe, but home-like environment.” 

The aim is to use construction materials that are clean, safe and that enhance patient comfort, said Cartrette. Security is also a primary concern, with the use of glass barriers and windows and a 14-foot tall “unclimbable fence,” he said.

Evanston resident Shelly Horne asked what exactly makes a fence unclimbable, and Cartrette explained that the fence will be very heavy gauge, welded fabric with small openings that are “virtually impossible” to get a finger or toe into, and that all of the fasteners and other hardware will be on the non-patient side of the fence. 

Cartrette said that the design firm has hired professional rock climbers to test out the fence and look for ways to climb it and the climbers have not been successful in doing so. 

Larsen said the capacity of the WSH will go up from a current 92 to 104 following completion of the project, which is being done nearly simultaneously with the Lander Life House. The simultaneous construction is being done because the two facilities are designed to be working together, almost as a single facility in two locations, said Larsen. 

It is likely the geriatric population that is currently served at WSH will ultimately be moved to the Lander facility, which is being designed to more effectively meet the needs of that patient group. 

The bidding process for those interested in doing the actual construction will begin in December, with bids due in January. The plan is to have a contractor selected prior to the legislative session so that contracts can be signed and everything is in place to break ground in the spring of 2018. 

Larsen said the plan is to keep everything as local as possible and hopefully use Wyoming contractors. “Wyoming does have the capacity to do the construction,” he said. The legislature has appropriated $150 million for the construction of the two facilities — the Wyoming State Hospital and the Lander Life House, — with about five million being used to this point on design and planning. 

The fate of the existing buildings is still an open question. Larsen said the original plan was to include funding to demolish the structures, but the decision was made to let the community attempt to come up with a use for them first. 

“I think it would be really fun if you guys could find a use for the old campus,” said Larsen. 

The ultimate goal of the construction is to have a healthcare facility that is part of the community and that the community can be proud of, said Larsen. “Utah keeps trying to annex you in, but we’re not going to let you go.”