Box Butte General Hospital: Physicians- Clinics.

Recent news articles featuring information about Clinics operated by Box Butte General Hospital:

New Practice Administrator introduced to community

(A general overview of the clinics operated by Box Butte General Hospital is offered below. For information about recent news articles featuring activity at our clinics, please refer to the links listed above.)

BBGH Clinics

Alliance, Hemingford and Hyannis are all blessed with well established clinics operated by Box Butte General Hospital.

All three clinics provide quality health care for residents in the BBGH service area, staffed with highly motivated and professional health care providers.

Sandhills Family Center

Sandhills Family Center’s history begins in the late 1970s. Drs. Raymond Olson, Donald Wilkinson and James Bane leased property from the County and finished the building for their Box Butte Medical Center practice in 1976, just north of the newly finished Box Butte General Hospital.

The practice and building were purchased by Box Butte General Hospital in 1990, with the Box Butte Medical Center practice renamed the Sandhills Family Center in 1997.

In January of 2008, BBGH acquired the practice of Cody Medical Associates, incorporating all of the clinic’s office staff and its providers into Sandhills Family Center.

In May of 2009, BBGH acquired the practice of Alliance Medical Center, PC, with Bruce Forney, MD, joining the staff of Sandhills Family Center at that time.

Sandhills Family Center provides health care for the whole family, with special interest in women's health, obstetrics and internal medicine services, with a focus on geriatric care and diseases of the heart and kidney.

The practice’s current health care providers are:

Bruce Forney, MD

Brittney Bauer, PA-C

Lonnie Grant, PA-C

Audrey Kerr, PA-C

Jerre Mount, PA-C

Sandhills Family Center is located in Suite 200 and Suite 700 of the Medical Arts Plaza, 2091 Box Butte Ave., Alliance, NE.

Clinic hours are:
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Call 308.762.7244 to make appointments.

Hemingford Clinic

The Village of Hemingford is located just 18 miles north of Alliance.

One of the first physicians serving the community of Hemingford was a woman. Helen C. Gilman, who, upon registering her practice with the State of Nebraska, placed an advertisement in the Hemingford Guide edition of November 4, 1892 announcing her practice. Another physician, Dr. F.A. Waples, rather bluntly proclaimed in an article published in 1893 that he could, “knock the grippe out in 24 hours, so that those of our citizens who suffer longer than that with the horrible disease are either very foolish or extremely hard up.”

Another interesting announcement was made in the August 9, 1893 edition of The Hemingford Herald: “Pay Up. I need money. Those knowing themselves indebted to me, please call and settle. R.A. Blackburn M.D.”

Bedside manners and bottom line aside, Hemingford has always had a practicing physician attending the needs of its citizens. Hemingford’s current “attending physician” is John Ruffing, Jr., M.D. The Hemingford Clinic’s current building was built by the Seventh Day Adventists in 1950. Dr. Ruffing has been practicing at that location since 1961. He approached Box Butte General Hospital in 2000 to propose that his clinic become a part of BBGH’s operations. The discussions proved fruitful, with the Clinic acquired by the hospital in January of 2001, becoming the second satellite clinic operated by BBGH.

The clinic focuses on family practice care.

Current health care providers for the Hemingford Clinic are:

John Ruffing, Jr., MD

Brittney Bauer, PA-C

The Hemingford Clinic is located at 812 Laramie Ave. in Hemingford.

Clinic hours are:
9 a.m. to Noon, 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8-12 noon Fridays.

Call 308.487.3322 to make an appointment.

Recent news relating to the Hemingford Clinic:

Dr. John Ruffing, Jr., honored by Alma mater and AMA

Cow Country Health Center

The community of Hyannis is located 60 miles east of Alliance in the rolling Sandhills of Nebraska.

Cow Country Health Center’s origins began in 1991, with residents of Hyannis forming a Hyannis Health Center Committee to raise funds for a clinic in that community, in order to help keep its physician, Dr. Erik Johnson, practicing within the small Sandhills town.

Soon after, the Cow Country Community Foundation was formed and fund raising efforts began to make the new clinic a reality. The fund raising effort was successful, with land donated by the Get Up and Go Extension Club. Ground breaking for the Cow Country Health Center was held in May of 1992, with the Clinic’s grand opening held in December of that same year. Dr. Johnson left the community several years later.

In September of 1998, an agreement was reached between the Cow Country Community Foundation and Box Butte General Hospital that would allow the hospital to operate the clinic. Cow Country Health Center was re-opened in October of that year, becoming the first of two satellite clinics operated by the hospital.

Residents of Hyannis during the CCHC 10th Anniversary celebration held in 2008. The clinic focuses on family practice care.

Current health care providers for Cow Country Health Center are:

Bruce Forney, MD

Brittney Bauer, PA-C

Lonnie Grant, PA-C

The Clinic is located at 111 South Main in Hyannis, NE.

Clinic hours are:
8:30 a.m. to 12 noon, 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon Tuesdays.

Call 308.458.2436 to make an appointment.

(A general overview of the clinics operated by Box Butte General Hospital is offered below. For information about recent news articles featuring activity at our clinics, please refer to the links listed above.)

Last updated on 05/26/10