Rotary Club of Casper WY
Meeting Summary
01/12/2015
President Bill DeGraeve called the meeting to order at 12:31 welcoming all Rotarians and guests to our meeting and welcoming back Whit Bradley who hasn’t been here for a while. Also he let us know that we are sending cards around for Mike Ward who lost his wife, Donna, last week.
Inspiration, Pledge, 4-Way Test:
Connie Brezik
Greeters:
Dick Jay and David Simonson were our greeters, Dick introduced guests:
Tom Bromley introduced Jared Ungangst;
Joe MacGuire introduced his wife Crystal MacGuire and his sister Dr. Mary MacGuire;
John Starnes introduced Mel Schwartz, Ann Rochelle, and David Driggers;
Pinky Ellis introduced his wife Jackie Ellis and Dr. Beth Wiseley;
Jim Porter introduced Ray Pacheco;
Eric Easton introduced the parents of our student of the month, Brad and Stacy Meyer;
Martha Rakestraw had a guest, Tom Mosley;
Song and merriment:
Dennis Lower is on winter break so Pinky Ellis will be taking his place after today until Dennis returns. Rick Diamond stood in for him today and treated us to a good poem about a truck. Gary Pehrson then led us in singing, “Battle Hymn of the Republic” accompanied by Brenda Peters.
Family of Rotary:
Denise Prugh let us know that she and her family spoke with last year’s exchange student Max via Skype and he mentioned that he has not seen a single truck since leaving here. He is doing well and finishing up his last year of High School.
Bill DeGraeve welcomed Mike Ward back and extended our condolences to him for his loss. Bill also noted that Brad Diller was back with us today.
Bill also noted that Rotarian Becky MacDonald was transferred with her job and will be leaving us in a couple of weeks, she will be missed.
Rotarians of the week:
Eric Easton nominated Bill DeVore for donating a piece of equipment to the Casper Nordic Ski Club for trimming the trails; he also nominated Leah Reeb for inviting many of the Rotarians to the opening night of the movie Selma.
Student of the Month:
We had a great young lady from KWHS speak to us today, Emma Meyer, a very well rounded student.
Special Speaker:
Giulia, our exchange student from Brazil, let us know that she has the following things left on her list of things she wants to do before going home: Visit Yellowstone Park, go snow mobiling, go sledding, go shooting of any type, and visit a ranch. Let’s make sure that if you can help her with one of these wishes that you invite her to do them or any other activity you think that she might enjoy.
Paul Harris Fellows:
Steve Loftin and Mark Owens were recognized today as Paul Harris Fellows.
Program:
John Starnes, let us know that he is always looking for speakers for our weekly programs so if you have ideas please let him know. John then turned the mic over to Jim Porter to introduce our program. Today’s program speakers are Dr. Beth Robitaille, the medical director of the UW Family Medicine Residency Program aka: Wyoming Family Practice, and Dr. Cindy Works, daughter of long time well known Casper resident Della Works. They are here today to tell us about the program at the Wyoming Family Practice Center. We started with Dr. Robitaille telling us about the history of the program that started in the 1970’s to bring more doctors to Wyoming. They train Residents in their last three years in how to practice family medicine. She has been the program director for the past four years. They have graduated over 240 physicians from the program since its inception, 35% of which have stayed to practice in Wyoming. They currently have 24 Physicians in Residency at the program. She explained that Family Medicine is actually a specialty not just a general type of practice. It is a Doctor that takes care of all of the family’s medical needs from birth to death or as they say “from cradle to grave” and it is the most efficient practice for the small towns in Wyoming. The clinic that they run is open to all types of patients not just the ones who are on Medicaid. They serve anyone who is in need of medical care regardless of ability to pay. The practice takes care of their patients wherever needed; in clinic, in hospital, hospice or at home. She stated that just recently they have started an umbrella organization called EHCW, Educational Health Center of Wyoming, which is an umbrella organization for the residency program in Casper and Cheyenne to promote excellence in medical education and serves as the largest safety net provider in the State. The EHCW has become a FQHC (Federally Qualified Health Center) which allows them to get reimbursement for some of the underserved patients who they have been serving for free. This new funding allows them to be able to take care of more people who are in need of medical care. Dr. Robitaille then turned the mic over to Dr. Works who told us that her practice is all 65 year olds and older. She is taking care of the people who took care of her while she was growing up here in Casper. She said that they try to instill this compassion and caring in their patients, and to teach them the importance of taking care of the patient medically but to also understand how the medical problems affect the patient’s life. She stated that they are all about serving the community and educating Doctors to help serve the community. She said that the underserved people medically does not always mean that they are poor, for example their practice does 30-40% of the care in the nursing homes, these older patients are underserved by others in the medical profession so it can mean anyone who has trouble getting medical care regardless of their ability to pay. They are committed to take care of their patients in the most caring way possible. They teach how to listen to the patient and do what they want to do whether to prolong life or just treat their symptoms. She recommended a book called Being Mortal by Atul Gawande, it talks about shifting care to do what the patient wants rather than trying to prolong their life at all costs. She told us a good story of how this worked for one of her patients. They then took questions from the audience, great presentation that was enjoyed by all.
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Classification Talks:
Today we heard from our Rotarian Jim Beck, who is the new General Manager of KCWY TV here in Casper. Jim is from Saginaw Michigan and attended college at Michigan State University where he got a degree in purchasing and unable to get a job in purchasing he went into sales in Flint Michigan. Then in 1998 he started working at a TV station and from the first day on the job knew that working in TV was where he wanted to be. He moved his wife and two children to Casper in June of 2014 and loves it here. He has a daughter that attends KWHS and his son attends school at Centennial JH. He loves to play basketball and is currently coaching the 4th and 5th grade Fort Casper boys’ basketball team. He also enjoys skiing and running and always wanted to live in the West. He thanked Paulann Doane for sponsoring him to join Rotary and expressed that the reason he likes TV so much is that he is able to help people through his job and that is why he loves Rotary so much as well. Welcome aboard Jim.
Club Announcements:
Greg Brondos announced that the bicycle ride around the Tetons has been calendared for the weekend after Mother’s Day, May 16, 2015 so mark your calendars and let him know if you plan on being there. President Bill thanked Greg for being in charge of the ride for the past 14 years.
President Bill announced that tonight at 5:00 at the First United Methodist Church will be the Foundation Board meeting and next Monday here at the Parkway will be the Club Board meeting at 7:00 a.m.
Bill also reminded us that the Casper Rotary Foundation Dinner will be held on February 13 and will involve all four Casper Clubs and the proceeds will go to the Casper Foundation. Watch for e-mails to sign up electronically and we will have paper signup sheets next week as well.
President Bill DeGraeve adjourned the meeting at 1:29 with the ring of the bell, and he reminded us that next week the meeting will be back here at the Parkway.
“Light Up Rotary”
