Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
By Steve Hansen
QCS correspondent
Don Weidemann, administrator for the Dan C. Trigg Memorial Hospital, will be leaving the position as of Friday.
Troy Clark, vice president of regional operations for Presbyterian Health Services, which operates Trigg Hospital, said Weidemann has been dismissed, and his duties will be taken over by Vince DiFranco, who currently administers Plains Regional Medical Center (PRMC) in Clovis. DiFranco will also continue as PRMC administrator.
“Don has done a great job for us,” Clark said. “He will be seeking other opportunities, and we will help him find a next step in his career.”
Weidemann declined to comment except to confirm what Clark reported.
DiFranco could not be reached for comment.
Clark said Weidemann’s dismissal is part of a strategy to better unify services between PRMC and Trigg.
The result of that unification, he said, is expected to be improved availability of medical services at Trigg due to more sharing of resources between the two hospitals.
Clark said by September, PRMC expects to bring on a new gastroenterologist, who specializes in diseases of the digestive system and liver. This physician will be shared between the two hospitals, he said. Other possible specialties to be added and shared may include an orthopedics, general surgery, cardiovascular medicine and endocrinology.
Clark said Presbyterian hopes to work with general practitioners in the Tucumcari area to make gynecological consulting available to pregnant patients but will not add obstetrics and gynecology because demand for those services in the Tucumcari area is not sufficient to justify regularly scheduled visits.