March & April 2024

Regional West Announces Additional Board Member and New Chief Financial Officer

The Regional West Board of Directors recently announced Matt Larsen, CEO of Vistabeam, as the third community member added to the board.

Jeanne McKerrigan, MBA, who has served as director of development for Regional West Foundation since 2021 and was the controller for Regional West Health Services, was recently named Chief Financial Officer (CFO). She earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Chadron State College. As CFO, McKerrigan will hold a position on the Regional West Board of Directors as a non-voting member.

McKerrigan joins the Regional West executive team, which includes:

Mel McNea, MHA, who serves as Regional West Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Prior to joining Regional West, McNea was CEO at Great Plains Health in North Platte, Nebraska until his 2021 retirement. He is well regarded in the Nebraska healthcare community after serving as a transparent leader and advocate for healthcare excellence for many years.

Amanda Vick, MBA, BSN, RN, Chief Operating Officer (COO), joined Regional West in 2019 as Chief Nursing Officer. She has served as Chief Operating Officer since 2022. Vick earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, and a Master of Business Administration degree from Colorado State University, Ft. Collins. 

Click here to read about our executive team.

Regional West Medical Center is proud to celebrate our 100th anniversary of caring for the people of western Nebraska and our neighboring states. Join us Sunday, April 14 from 2 to 5 p.m. in the Regional West Education Center to celebrate. Come early for the short program at 2 p.m. and enjoy light refreshments.

Genuine Care and Concern 

Watching a beloved spouse experience cancer can be a helpless feeling, especially during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic when people were unable to accompany their loved ones to doctors’ appointments and tests. Gering resident John Mulholland faced this challenge when his wife, Anne, began feeling unwell in August 2020 and was subsequently diagnosed with breast cancer.

Click here to read more.

For nearly four decades, Armando Magana, MD, has cared for the region’s gastrointestinal patients in Regional West Physicians Clinic-Gastroenterology.

The Gastroenterology clinic is the only established clinic of its kind in the panhandle, offering gastroscopes, colonoscopies, camera endoscopy, and other specialized services to help treat the digestive system and its conditions. Since he started in 1986, Dr. Magana has seen the field change dramatically, with advancements in technology leading the transformation.

“We can now look inside the small intestine, which we couldn’t do years ago. We even have miniature cameras that people can swallow,” he said. “The diseases haven’t changed, but the technology has.”

In addition to new tools, new knowledge has created specialized areas in gastroenterology. Physicians can now focus solely on diseases that affect one part of the digestive system, such as the stomach, colon, intestine, or liver. With so much information being discovered about gastrointestinal disorders, Dr. Magana said the job never gets old.

Though he enjoys performing endoscopies, Dr. Magana said one of the best parts of his job is the people he works with.

“I’ve worked with some of the same people in my department since I started at Regional West, and I think that consistency is one of our greatest strengths. It’s great to have that support system,” he said.

Sometimes, patients who need endoscopies are afraid of what the procedure entails. Dr. Magana encourages patients to let go of their fears so they can take control of their health.

“A lot of people need an endoscopy, but they’re afraid and think, ‘If I go in, I’m going to find out I’m sick,’” he said. “That may be so, but the sooner they get in, the sooner we can take care of them.”

Regional West Physicians Clinic-Women’s Center is proud to begin offering a bimonthly postpartum support group! New mothers are invited to come and share their experience, connect with other women, and learn about tools and resources to help navigate motherhood. Click here to learn more.

Scholarship Applications are Open!



Each year, Regional West Foundation grants

health education scholarships to students from Regional West’s service area. Following graduation, many of the students pursue employment in the communities Regional West serves. From nursing to laboratory medicine, we offer a variety of scholarships for health professions.



If you’d like to know more about our scholarships, click here. We are proud to help support future healthcare professionals with their education!

Thank You for Encouraging a Love for Reading!

Congratulations to Brandon and Terri Stuart and baby Brinlee on receiving the 12,000th Cradle Catchers gift! Since 2008, the Cradle Catchers program has provided bags filled with books, a coupon for a free library card, and more to all babies born at Regional West’s Birth and Infant Care Center. The program, which is a collaboration between educators in the Theta Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma Society, the Lied Scottsbluff Public Library, and the Panhandle Library System, is made possible thanks to donations from Soroptimist International, Gering Kiwanis, the C.A. Story Foundation, and private individuals.

It's time for the March edition of The Bariatric Beat at Regional West! Click here to learn more about our Q&A survey and check out the latest tasty recipe.

Navigating social settings after weight loss surgery can be hard. If you want to learn a few tips to help feel more comfortable, come to Regional West Bariatric & Weight Loss Surgery’s support group on Wednesday, April 3.

For more information, contact Bariatric Coordinator Amber Schulze, FNP-C, at 308-630-3812.

By 1953, the third, fourth, and sixth floors of West Nebraska General Hospital were opened, bringing the bed capacity to 82. In January 1958, several hospital records were established, including the most adult and pediatric patients on any day (89); most inpatients on any day (101); and most adult and pediatric admissions for any month (402). When rooms were full, patients would overflow into the hallways. It was time to consider a bigger hospital.

If you’re interested in weight loss options, we want to hear from you! Regional West Bariatric & Weight Loss Surgery program is launching a Q&A series that addresses the topics and questions that matter most to you.

Let your voice be heard! Click here to take the survey. For questions, contact Bariatric Coordinator Amber Schulze at 308-630-3812.

Regional West Partners with

Project Pink'd

When a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer, the road ahead can be daunting. However, Regional West’s breast cancer patients can experience a touch of comfort thanks to Project Pink’d, a volunteer-powered organization that provides free support to breast cancer patients in Nebraska and western Iowa. The program provides Healing Hearts Survivor Kits – bags that are filled with essentials such as travel pillows, cooling pads, insulated tumblers, and more for each treatment modality.

Because of Project Pink’d, our breast cancer patients who are facing surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation can have a smoother healing journey. We are incredibly grateful! If you’d like to learn more about Project Pink’d, visit click here. For more information on Regional West’s Cancer Services, click here.

Visiting Regional West

Visitors of all ages are welcome to Regional West Medical Center during normal visiting hours, which are 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Visitors under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult.

The main hospital entrance is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visitors can also enter through the Birth and Infant Care Center entrance on the facility’s north side during these hours.

If visiting the hospital after 5 p.m. or on the weekends, please use the Emergency Department entrance.

Thank you for choosing Regional West!

308-630-2244

Regional West Foundation has kicked off our Grateful Patient program! This program provides patients and their families a way to show gratitude toward a physician, provider, nurse, employee, or department who played a special role in their care.

If you know someone at Regional West who has made your care special, we invite you to share your story and make a donation in his or her name. They will then be recognized by the Foundation.

Click here to view the donation information form, or call the Foundation at 308-630-1485 to make a donation in someone’s name.