After years of planning, construction challenges, and regulatory hurdles, the Wind River Family & Community Health Care Dialysis Center in Riverton is now fully operational and already improving access to life-saving care for patients across Fremont County and the Wind River Reservation.
The dialysis clinic, which opened on September 9, 2024, was created to address a critical gap in care in Wyoming, where only a handful of dialysis facilities serve patients across vast rural distances.
“There are only 10 dialysis centers in the state of Wyoming, including ours,” said Christion Pulver, Administrative Officer, Wind River Family and Community Health Care -Dialysis Center. “So there was a huge need for additional services in our community.”
For many patients requiring dialysis, the treatment schedule is demanding. Treatments typically occur three times per week and can take several hours each visit. Before the Riverton clinic opened, many patients had to travel significant distances to receive care.
“For some families, it could take six to eight hours three times a week to get to dialysis and back,” Pulver said. “It has a huge impact on families.”
The need for a local dialysis center became especially clear through personal experience. Pulver said her involvement in the project was deeply personal after watching her mother-in-law navigate the difficult routine of dialysis treatments.
“Community members had approached our CEO, Richard Brannan, asking if we could bring dialysis services to this area,” Pulver said. “Providing access to specialty care like this aligns with our mission to serve our community.”
From Construction Challenges to Accreditation
Getting the clinic open was no small feat.
Pulver said the project faced numerous construction setbacks, including multiple contractor changes and significant building work that had to be redone.
“We went through three construction companies, two electrical companies, and two flooring companies because we had to redo all of the flooring,” she said. “Just getting through construction and reaching the point where we could open was a huge achievement.”
The clinic initially opened under a provisional license from the State of Wyoming. Since then, the facility has achieved full licensure and recently earned accreditation through the National Dialysis Accreditation Commission.
“That accreditation is a huge milestone for us,” Pulver said. “To my knowledge, there is only one other accredited dialysis center in Wyoming.”
Improving Patients’ Quality of Life
The Riverton dialysis center is currently serving eight patients but has the capacity to care for up to 72 as staffing grows.
Inside the clinic, staff have focused on creating a welcoming and comfortable environment for patients who spend several hours at a time receiving treatment.
Each patient station includes heated chairs, and staff offer warm blankets to help patients relax during their sessions.
“Our patients do phenomenal,” said Teal Simcox. “We do everything we can to make them comfortable.”
The difference has been noticeable.
“Their personalities are blossoming even more,” Pulver said. “We get a lot of really good quality one-on-one time with our patients.”
Having a dialysis center closer to home has also helped reduce the financial burden on patients and families who previously traveled long distances for treatment.
“It’s been a tremendous help to our community financially,” Pulver said.
Partnerships Helping Patients Get to Care
Transportation remains a challenge for many dialysis patients, particularly those traveling from the Wind River Reservation or surrounding rural areas.
The clinic works closely with Wind River Intertribal Transportation, led by Michelle Grosbeck, to help ensure patients can get to and from treatments.
“They are a blessing to us and to our patients,” Pulver said. “They’re picking people up very early in the morning so they can be here for treatments that start at 6 a.m.”
Staffing Remains the Biggest Challenge
While the clinic has the capacity to serve many more patients, staffing remains the largest obstacle to expansion.
Dialysis nursing is a highly specialized field, and recruiting trained nurses in Wyoming can be difficult.
“Finding dialysis nurses is a rare commodity around here,” Pulver said.
Currently, the clinic has one fully trained dialysis nurse and another in training. Because of strict patient-to-nurse ratios required for safe care, the clinic must expand staffing before it can increase the number of patients served.
However, the center is offering opportunities for nurses and residents interested in entering the field.
“We’re willing to train registered nurses in dialysis,” Pulver said. “And we also train patient care technicians.”
Technicians can receive on-the-job training and have up to 18 months under Wyoming law to earn certification as a clinical hemodialysis technician. The organization also covers the cost of certification training.
“It’s a great opportunity for community members who want to get their foot in the door in healthcare,” Pulver said.
A Hub for Multiple Health Services
The dialysis center also shares space with Wind River Cares’ prevention clinic, which houses additional services such as telehealth, behavioral health, and a lab draw station.
Originally envisioned as a diabetes clinic, the prevention center has evolved to meet the community’s broader healthcare needs.
“We always start with great ideas,” Pulver said. “But our clinics grow into what our community needs them to be.”
Looking Ahead: Education and Prevention
Looking forward, the clinic staff hopes to increase community outreach and education around kidney health and chronic disease prevention.
“A big focus for us moving forward is education,” Pulver said. “We want to get out into the community and talk about chronic kidney disease and how people can prevent ending up on dialysis.”
Conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure are leading causes of kidney failure, and early intervention can make a major difference.
A Small but Dedicated Team
Despite the long road to opening, Pulver said the success of the dialysis center is the result of teamwork across the organization and the broader community.
She credited the Northern Arapaho Tribe, Northern Arapaho Business Council, leadership at Wind River Family & Community Health Care, and numerous departments that helped bring the project to life.
But above all, she praised the small team working directly with patients.
“As Teal says, we’re small but mighty,” Pulver said. “The dedication our team has to this community and to our patients is something you don’t see every day.”
“And at the end of the day,” she added, “our patients should always be our first priority.”
