About us

Ryan Smith joined Memorial Hospital in 2011. Smith began his career in health care as a custodian in a hospital in high school. He has worked as the Chief Financial Officer for hospitals in Kentucky, Wyoming, Alaska and Utah, and most recently as the CEO at Central Peninsula Hospital in Soldotna, Alaska. As CEO at Memorial Hospital, Smith's emphasis is on the "patient experience" maintaining, that if we are able to get that piece of health care right, the rest will fall into place. Ryan received his bachelor's degree in Accounting and Masters in Business Administration from the University of Utah. He and his wife Sharon have three children. Ryan enjoys fishing, hunting, running, traveling and spending time with family.

James (Jim) Morgan, MD serves as a liaison between the medical staff and administration, and is also responsible for coordination of patient care and safety, as well as all provider recruitment efforts at Memorial Hospital and its clinics.

Dr. Morgan first came to Douglas in 1982 while moonlighting in Douglas’ ER as a family practice resident at Casper’s Wyoming Medical Center. Upon completion of his residency, Dr. Morgan worked in Sundance, Wyo. before moving to Douglas in 1985. Dr. Morgan ran a successful independent practice in Douglas before joining the staff at Memorial Hospital. He and his wife Maureen raised three children in Douglas and have many pets. Dr. Morgan enjoys fly fishing, recreational flying, and spending time with family and friends.

Lori Koby is responsible for all areas of patient care, including EMS and ancillary services. Lori received her associates in accounting from Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Ore. and graduated from Western Oregon University in Monmouth, Ore. with her bachelors degree in business administration. Lori then received her bachelors degree in nursing from Walla Walla University and her Masters in both nursing and healthcare administration from the University of Phoenix. Koby joined the staff at Memorial Hospital in January of 2012 after serving Mid Valley Hospital in Omak, Wash. as the director of patient care and clinical service. Lori's broad range of experience includes both small and large hospitals like Sisters of Providence in Seattle, Wash. and Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Portland, Ore. Before her career in medicine, Koby worked as the chief financial officer in several hospitals and taught college accounting classes. Koby and her husband Les have three children. Away from the hospital, Koby enjoys biking, traveling, camping and eating chocolate.

Curt Dugger oversees all of the revenue cycle staff as well as materials management and health information management. A Wyoming native, Dugger graduated from the University of Wyoming with his bachelors degree in accounting and began working in the banking industry. He spent a short time as a financial planner before accepting the CFO position at Washakie Medical Center in Worland, Wyo. In 1998, Dugger joined Memorial Hospital as its CFO. Dugger and his wife Cathy have two children, Chris and Cadi, who are both in college. Dugger is a member and past president of the Healthcare Financial Management Association of Wyoming and enjoys hunting, golf, bowling and camping.

Linda York oversees human resources, recruiting, and coordinates health care travelers and housing. A Douglas native, York first worked as a credit reporter before taking a position as a file clerk at Memorial Hospital in 1977. She enjoys volunteering, photography, scrapbooking and spending time with her family. She has three grown children and one grandchild.

Karl Hertz started in 2011 as the marketing and recruitment manager at Memorial Hospital. Before joining the hospital, Hertz worked as a district executive for the Boy Scouts of America and operated the Hertz Funeral Homes in Southwestern Iowa. Hertz has a broad background in community development, EMS and fire service. In 2012, Hertz accepted the position as the assistant hospital administrator. He works closely with CEO Ryan Smith on hospital development and is directly responsible for marketing, public relations, maintenance, environmental services, dietary services and volunteer programs.

Karl and his wife Teresa have three children and enjoy camping, traveling, hiking and watching their kids sporting events.

Mick Kasher oversees the daily operations of Memorial Hospital's three medical clinics and is responsible for the hospital-employed physician group.

Kasher received his bachelors of arts in psychology from Creighton University in Omaha and his masters in public administration from the University of Nebraska-Omaha. Before joining Memorial Hospital in 2011, Kasher worked as an independent consultant teaching healthcare business at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Kasher has also served as the revenue cycle manager, practice manager and director of clinical operations for practices across the mid and western parts of the country. Kasher and his wife Kathy have a daughter and enjoy travel, hiking, camping and theatre.

Joy Johnson oversees all pharmacy functions, such as: selections of, ordering/prescribing of, and preparing/dispensing of medications. Johnson is also involved with several hospital committees involving medications and medication safety, physician order sets, and coordination of Memorial Hospital's ePharmacy program.

Johnson is a graduate of the University of Wyoming School of Pharmacy and also has a bachelor of science degree in microbiology. Before joining Memorial Hospital in 2000, Johnson managed a Home IV Infusion pharmacy serving the states of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. She has also worked as a staff pharmacist for Wyoming Medical Center and Safeway supermarket. Johnson and her husband Brad enjoy the company of their dogs, volunteering, reading and watching her family tend to their small vineyard.

Kathy Seebaum is responsible for the care of patients on the Medical/Surgical floor, birthing center, emegency department, ICU and surgical center. Seebaum has worked at Memorial Hospital since 1996 holding various titles within the nursing department and served as surgery's nurse manager for 13 years prior to being named director of nursing. Seebaum is a register nurse, holds her CNOR certification, and is working on her bachelors and masters in nursing.

Seebaum and her husband Shawn have two children Trae and Tatum and love to follow their kids around the state as they compete in rodeo events. She enjoys spending time with her family, reading and gardening.

Kathy Summers oversees all inpatient and outpatient respiratory therapy and cardio therapy programs as well as all cardiac and respiratory function testing and sleep studies.

Summers started working in the lab and x-ray department at Memorial Hospital of Converse County while still attending Douglas High School. She continued to work summers as a student at the University of Wyoming and graduated from Respiratory Therapy School in Rock Springs, Wyo. She returned to Memorial Hospital as a certified respiratory therapist and has been part of the respiratory therapy department ever since. Summers and her husband Leonard have two children and five grandchildren. Kathy enjoys gardening, boating on the lake and spending time with her grandchildren.

Carlos Mesa oversees the scheduling, training, and licensing of EMS staff, the maintenance of six ambulances and two stations, and is responsible for providing EMS services for all 4,200 square miles of Converse County.

Mesa first started with the Converse County ambulance service in 1982 as an EMT. In 1989, he completed his intermediate training. In 2007, the county asked Memorial Hospital to take over operations of the ambulance service and retained his position as an EMT-I with the new Memorial Hospital of Converse County ambulance service. In 2007, Mesa completed his paramedic training and was named coordinator of the ambulance service in 2011.

Carlos and his wife Val have three children and seven grandchildren. Carlos is an active member of the Douglas Volunteer Fire Department and enjoys camping and riding his motorcycle when time permits.

Quintin Schanck is responsible for all laboratory testing throughout the hospital and its clinics and oversees 15 nationally certified lab techs and phlebotomists. The lab is available 24 hours a day and Memorial Hospital completes 95 percent of all testing in-house.

Schanck worked 21 years as a medical laboratory scientist in Laramie and Buffalo, Wyo. before joining the staff at Memorial Hospital as the laboratory manager in 2011. He is certified by the American Society of Clinical Pathology and currently enrolled in the ASCP Certification Maintenance Program. Schanck and his wife Audrey have two grown children and one grandson. He loves spending time with family, hunting elk, fishing for walleye, reading, traveling and mule riding.

Dave Patterson is the chief information officer (CIO) at Memorial Hospital of Converse County as well as the project manager for the hospital's electronic medical record (EMR) implementation. In addition to his daily IS duties, Patterson oversees all IS purchases, negotiates IS support contracts, prioritizes and facilitates all IS related projects, coordinates the various data systems within Memorial Hospital, and oversees admissions. He has worked at Memorial Hospital since 2000 in a number of IS related positions, and was named CIO in 2011.

Patterson and his wife Lisa have four sons that keep them busy with various school and sports activities. In his down time he enjoys reading, home improvement, gaming, and spending time with his family and their rescued greyhounds.

Jerrie Root is responsible for the oversight of all physician and hospital billing as well as billing for Memorial Hospital EMS, Chalk Buttes Diagnostics Imaging, and Powder River Imaging LLC.

Root started in data processing at Memorial Hospital in 1998. Soon after, the hospital began a collaborative hospital information system project with Wyoming Medical Center in Casper and she was asked to work with WMC to build all of the dictionaries and system files related to billing and accounts receivable Memorial Hospital would need to use this system. When the business office later adopted the Clarus information system, Root was named billing supervisor and later business office manager. In 2010, the hospital implemented the Meditech and LSS information systems that merged patient billing with the EMR and Root oversaw the build and set up of her third and fourth billing system at Memorial Hospital. In 2012, she was named business office director.

Root and her husband, Dr. Buck Root, have three children and three grandchildren. When she is not working at Memorial Hospital, she keeps busy helping her husband with his practice at Riverbend Veterinary Hospital and caring for her home and family.

Barb Pickinpaugh is responsible for maintaining all patient records at the hospital.

Pickinpaugh started as a unit secretary on the patient floor in 1981, later working as a clerk in the medical records office, and then as a coder. In 1990, she accepted the manager position in health information management. Her department is finishing a patient record digitization project and in 2012 Pickinpaugh was named director of HIM. Pickinpaugh and her husband Ken share three children and four grandchildren. Barb enjoys gardening and spending time with her family.

Marvin oversees all departmental activities and personnel in purchasing and central supply. Sik is responsible for contract negotiations, purchasing and delivery of all hospital supplies, delivery of those supplies to departments within the hospital, budgeting, and inventory of all hospital equipment and supplies. He started in 2009 as manager of purchasing at Memorial Hospital and was named director in 2012. Sik and his wife Brenda have three children and enjoy camping, football and hockey.

Eric VanOsdol oversees all of the maintenance and repairs for the hospital and its outpatient clinics, negotiates service contracts, purchase contracts, and coordinates construction projects throughout the buildings.

VanOsdol started in the bio-med department at Memorial Hospital in 2004 and was responsible for repairing all clinical and non-clinical equipment. In 2011, he accepted the maintenance manager position and in 2012 was named department director. VanOsdol has a son in high school and loves his work. When he gets a chance, he enjoys camping, hunting, hiking and working out at the gym.